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CREATIVE  PHOTOGRAPHY 


JIVE  PHOTOGRAPHY 


CREATIVE 

ra®T®<§RAra¥ 

Aesthetic  Trends  1839-1960 
by 

HELMUT  GERNSHEIM 


BONANZA  BOOKS  •  NEW  YORK 


Copyright  (E)  MCMLXIl  by  Helmut  Gernsheim 
Library  of  Congress  Catalog  Card  Number:  74-76430 
A 11  rights  reserved. 
This  edition  is  published  by  Bonanza  Books 
a  division  of  Crown  Publishers,  Inc. 
by  arrangement  with  Faber  and  Faber 
abcdefgh 
Manufactured  in  the  United  States  of  A  merica 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION  page  II 

I    THE  MIRROR  OF  NATURE  23 

II    THE  PENCIL  OF  NATURE  32 

III  TOPOGRAPHY  AND  INTERPRETATION  40 

IV  A  NEW  INDUSTRY  56 
V    IMMORTAL  PORTRAITS  60 

VI    THE  PHOTOGRAPHER  AS  STAGE  MANAGER  69 

VII    'FINE  ART'  PHOTOGRAPHY  73 

VIII    GENRE  89 

IX    THE  NUDE  BEFORE  THE  CAMERA  96 

X    REPORTAGE  AND  DOCUMENTATION  102 

XI    PUSH-BUTTON  PHOTOGRAPHY  II5 

XII    NATURALISTIC  PHOTOGRAPHY  119 

XIII  IMPRESSIONISTIC  PHOTOGRAPHY  122 

XIV  IMITATION  PAINTINGS  131 
XV    THE  AESTHETIC  MOVEMENT  I35 

XVI    THE  BEGINNING  OF  MODERN  PHOTOGRAPHY  I49 

XVII    PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  THE  RETORT  l6l 

XVIII    THE  NEW  OBJECTIVITY  I72 

XIX    THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SURREALISM  I90 

XX    PHOTO-PATTERNS  I96 

XXI    THE  FACE  OF  OUR  TIME  208 
SHORT  BIOGRAPHIES  OF  PHOTOGRAPHERS  ILLUSTRATED  23I 

PROCESSES  248 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  AND  STUDY  LIST  25I 

INDEX  OF  NAMES  255 


5 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The  author  and>  publisher  gratefully  acknowledge  the  loan  of  forty-four  blocks  from  the  Shenval  Press. 

Originals  of  all  the  illustrations  in  this  book  are  in  the  Gernsheim  Collection  unless  otherwise  stated.  Those  by  living 

photographers  are  reproduced  with  their  kind  permission. 

The  following  individuals  and  organizations  have  kindly  allowed  the  reproduction  of  the  following  photographs: 

Mrs  Rosellina  Bischof,  238,  239,  240;  The  Bodley  Head,  86;  Mr  Paul  Boissonnas,  125;  The  British  Film  Institute,  179, 

181;  British  Railways,  3;  Contemporary  Films,  243;  Mr  Anthony  Denny,  12;  George  Eastman  House,  Rochester,  100,  137, 

158,  160;  Edinburgh  Public  Library,  24;  Mr  Hans  Hammarskiold,  119;  Mr  Peter  Hunter,  219;  Mrs  Anneliese  Lerski,  182; 

The  Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  226,  227;  London  Press  Exchange,  3,  4;  Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  San 

Francisco,  103;  The  Royal  Photographic  Society  of  Great  Britain,  62,  63;  the  Societe  Franchise  de  Photographie,  8,  19; 

Stenger  Collection,  38;  Mr  Brett  Weston,  190;  Mr  Berthold  Wolpe,  36;  Mrs.  A.  Erfurth,  130. 


1.  Nicephore  Niepce.  The  world's  first  photo- 
graph, 1826  page  12 

2.  Professor  Schardin.  Temperature  distribution 
around  a  heated  metal  tube,  c.  1950  14 

3.  A  fast-moving  train.  Photographic  poster,  i960  16 

4.  Advertisement  for  Industrial  Life  Offices  Asso- 
ciation, c.  1959  17 

5.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Loch  Linnhe  at  mid-day, 
1946  18 

6.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Loch  Linnhe,  late  after- 
noon, 1946  18 

7.  Weegee  (pseudonym  for  Arthur  Fellig).  Fire  at 

a  New  York  tenement,  c.  1939  21 

8.  L.  J.  M.  Daguerre.  Earliest  surviving  daguerreo- 
type, 1837  23 

9.  J.  P.  Girault  de  Prangey.  The  Metropolitan 
Church  in  Athens,  detail.  Daguerreotype,  1842  24 

10.  Richard  Beard.  Daguerreotype  of  a  gentleman, 

c.  1842  26 

11.  Interior  of  the  first  public  daguerreotype  studio 
in  Europe,  opened  by  Richard  Beard  on  the 
roof  of  the  Polytechnic  Institution,  London,  in 
March  1 841.  Woodcut  by  George  Cruikshank, 
1842  26 

12.  Antoine  Claudet.  Daguerreotype  of  a  lady, 

c.  1845  27 

13.  Daguerreotype  of  a  gentleman,  c.  1845  29 

14.  French  daguerreotype,  1844  (reproduction). 
Left,  Friedrich  von  Martens  (inventor  of  pano- 
ramic daguerreotype,  1845).  Right,  the  optician 
N.  P.  Lerebours.  Standing,  the  chemist  Marc- 
Antoine  Gaudin  30 

15.  C.  F.  Stelzner.  Daguerreotype,  c.  1843.  Left  to 
right,  Fraulein  Reimer,  Frau  Stelzner,  Fraulein 
Mathilde  von  Braunschweig  30 

16.  Babbitt.  The  Niagara  Falls.  Daguerreotype, 

c.  1853  31 

17.  W.  H.  Fox  Talbot.  'The  Open  Door.'  Calotype, 

c.  1844  32 

18.  W.  H.  Fox  Talbot.  'The  Chess  Players.'  Calo- 
type, 1842  33 


19.  Hippolyte  Bayard.  Windmills  at  Montmartre, 

c.  1842  page  33 

20.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  The  sculptor  John 
Stevens  and  bust  of  Lucius  Verus.  Calotype, 

1843-5  35 

21.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Rev.  George  Gil- 
fillan    and    Dr    Samuel    Brown.  Calotype, 

c.  1843  36 

22.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Elizabeth  John- 
stone, the  beauty  of  Newhaven  village.  Calo- 
type, c.  1845  37 

23.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Sailors.  Calotype, 

c.  1845  38 

24.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Highlanders  at 
Edinburgh  Castle.  Calotype,  1843-7  39 

25.  John  Shaw  Smith.  Relief  on  a  temple  at  Thebes. 
Waxed  paper,  1851  40 

26.  Roger  Fenton.  Domes  of  the  Cathedral  of  the 
Resurrection,  the  Kremlin.  Waxed  paper, 
1852  41 

27.  Dr  Thomas  Keith.  Willow  trees.  Waxed  paper, 

c.  1854  42 

28.  Dr  Thomas  Keith.  Reflections  in  a  pond  at 
Blackford  Farm  near  Edinburgh.  Waxed  paper, 
1855  42 

29.  'Cuthbert  Bede'  (Rev.  Edward  Bradley).  Title- 
page  of  Photographic  Pleasures,  1855  43 

30.  James  Mudd.  Flood  at  Sheffield,  1864  44 

31.  James  Anderson.  Base  of  Trajan's  Column, 
Rome,  c.  1858  45 

32.  Francis  Frith.  Pyramids  of  Dakshoor,  1857-8  46 

33.  Edouard  Baldus.  Pont  du  Gard,  c.  1855  46 

34.  Royal  Engineers  Military  School,  Chatham 
(Photographic  Department).  Study  of  plants, 

c.  i860  47 

35.  Bisson  freres.  Temple  of  Vespasian,  Rome, 
detail  of  architrave,  c.  i860  48 

36.  James  Robertson  (attributed  to).  Malta  fortress, 

c.  i860  48 

37.  Charles  Negre.  Statue,  detail  from  St  Gilles  du 
Gard  Abbey  near  Aries.  Calotype,  c.  1852  49 


7 


38, 


39. 
4o. 

4i. 

42. 
43- 
44- 
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46 

47- 
48. 


49. 

5°, 
5i 
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54. 

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56. 

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6o. 

6i. 

62. 

63- 
64. 
65. 

66. 

67. 
68. 

69. 

70. 
7i. 

72. 
73- 

74- 
75- 
76. 


Charles  Clifford.  In  the  park  of  the  royal 
summer  residence  Capricho,  near  Guadalajara, 
Spain,  1855  page  50 

Henry  White.  Bramble  and  ivy,  c.  1856 
Gustave  Le  Gray.  'Brig  upon  the  Water',  1856 
Robert  MacPherson.  Garden  of  the  Villa  d'Este, 
Tivoli,  c.  1857 

Gustave  Le  Gray.  Notre-Dame,  Paris,  1858 
Carlo  Ponti.  Piazza  San  Marco,  Venice,  c.  1862 
Cheap  photographer's  advertisement,  1857 
C.  Schwartz.  Christian  Rauch,  1852 
Ambrotype  of  an  old  gentleman,  c.  1857 
Nadar.  George  Sand,  1865 
Maull  and  Polyblank.  Michael  Faraday,  F.R.S., 
c.  1856.  (Faraday  is  holding  a  piece  of  optical 
glass  in  an  iron  container,  used  to  demonstrate 
magnetic  rotatory  polarization  of  light) 
Robert  Howlett.  Isambard  Kingdom  Brunei, 
1857 

Nadar.  Baron  Taylor,  c.  1865 
Etienne  Carjat.  Rossini,  c.  1865 
Melandri.   Sarah  Bernhardt  with  her  self- 
portrait  bust,  c.  1876 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Ellen  Terry,  1864 
Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Sir  Henry  Taylor, 
1867 

Disderi.  Uncut  sheet  of  eight  carte-de-visite 
portraits  of  Princess  Buonaparte-Gabriele, 
c.  1862 


Disderi.  Napoleon  III,  the  Empress  Eugenie 
and  the  Prince  Imperial,  1859-60 
Camille  Silvy.   The  Countess  of  Caledon, 
c.  1862 

William  Notman.  Bear  hunt  (posed  in  studio), 
1867 

John  Leighton.  Self-portrait,  aged  30.  Calo- 
type,  1853 

William  Lake  Price.  'Don  Quixote  in  his 
Study',  1855 

O.  G.  Rejlander.  Composition  after  a  detail  in 
Raphael's  Sistine  Madonna,  c.  1856 
O.  G.  Rejlander.  'The  Two  Ways  of  Life'  (size 
31  in.  by  16  in.),  1857 
H.  P.  Robinson.  'Fading  Away',  1858 
H.  P.  Robinson.  'The  Lady  of  Shalott',  1861 
H.  P.  Robinson.  Preliminary  sketch  with  photo- 
graph inserted,  c.  i860 

H.  P.  Robinson.  'Dawn  and  Sunset',  1885  (size 
294  in.  by  21  in.) 
Detail  of  66 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Florence,  1872.  In- 
scribed by  G.  F.  Watts:  'I  wish  I  could  paint 
such  a  picture  as  this' 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Florence,  1872 
(another  pose) 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  May  Prinsep,  c.  1870 
Jane  Morris  posed  by  D.  G.  Rossetti,  July  1865. 
Photographer  unknown 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  'King  Arthur',  1874 
Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  'The  Passing  of 
Arthur',  1874 

William  Lake  Price.  Partridge,  c.  1855 

O.  G.  Rejlander.  Tossing  chestnuts,  c.  i860 

O.  G.  Rejlander.  'The  Milkmaid',  c.  1857 


5i 
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77.  Lady  Hawarden.  'At  the  Window',  c.  1864    page  91 

78.  Edward  Draper.  'Boy  with  Parrots',  c.  1865  92 

79.  William  M.  Grundy.  'The  Country  Stile',  1859 

80.  Lewis  Carroll.  'The  Elopement',  1862 

81.  Lewis  Carroll.  'It  Won't  Come  Smooth',  1863 

82.  Coloured  French  stereoscopic  daguerreotype  of 
an  odalisque,  c.  1853 

83.  O.  G.  Rejlander.  Nude,  1857 

84.  Nadar.  Christine  Roux,  the  original  'Musette' 
of  Murger's  'La  Vie  de  Boheme',  1856 

85.  Clarence  H.  White  and  Alfred  Stieglitz.  Torso, 
1907 

86.  Bill  Brandt.  Nude,  1958 

87.  Lusha  Nelson.  African  woman,  1934 

88.  'The  Music  Lesson.'  Stereoscopic  photograph, 
c.  1857 

89.  Alois  Locherer.  Transport  of  the  colossal  statue 
'Bavaria',  Munich,  1850 

90.  William  England.  Railway  bridge  over  the 
Niagara  River.  Stereoscopic  photograph,  1859 

91.  P.  H.  Delamotte.  Opening  of  the  rebuilt  Crystal 
Palace  at  Sydenham  by  Queen  Victoria,  10  June 
1854 

92.  Edward  Anthony.  Broadway,  New  York,  on  a 
rainy  day.  Stereoscopic  photograph,  1859 

93.  Nomination  of  parliamentary  candidates  at 
Dover,  1863 

94.  P.  H.  Delamotte.  Rebuilding  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  at  Sydenham,  1853 

95.  Roger  Fenton.  Crimean  War,  cookhouse  of  the 
8th  Hussars,  1855 

96.  Thomas  Annan.  Glasgow  slum  (No.  28,  Salt- 
market),  1868 

97.  T.  H.  O'Sullivan.  'The  Harvest  of  Death'— 
battlefield  of  Gettysburg,  July  1863 

98.  La  Butte  de  Montmartre  during  the  Paris 
Commune,  1871 

99.  Jacob  A.  Riis.  New  York  slum  dweller  on  make- 
shift bed  in  a  coal  cellar,  c.  1888.  Flashlight 
photograph 

100.  Lewis  Hine.  Child  labour  in  Carolina  cotton- 
mill,  1908 

101.  Sir  Benjamin  Stone.  Ox-roasting  at  Stratford- 
on-Avon  'mop',  c.  1898 

102.  Paul  Nadar.  The  first  photo-interview:  Nadar 
(Gaspard  Felix  Tournachon)  interviews  the 
centenarian  scientist  M.  E.  Chevreul,  August 
1886 

103.  Arnold  Genthe.  Public  feeding  after  the  San 
Francisco  earthquake  on  18  April  1906 

104.  Nahum  Luboshez.  Famine  in  Russia,  c.  1910 

105.  Elliot  and  Fry.  Sir  Joseph  Wilson  Swan,  1904 

106.  Oscar  van  Zel.  Skating,  c.  1887 

107.  J.  Bridson.  Picnic,  c.  1882 

108.  Paris  International  Exhibition,  1889:  under  the 
Eiffel  Tower 

109.  P.  H.  Emerson.  'Setting  the  bow-net.'  Platino- 
type,  1885 

no.  Frank  Sutcliffe.  'Excitement.'  Platinotype, 
1888 

in.  P.  H.  Emerson.  'Towing  the  Reed.'  Platino- 
type, 1885 

112.  Lyddell  Sawyer.  'In  the  Twilight.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1888 


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no 


in 


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121 


8 


113-  George  Davison.  'The  Onion  Field.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1890  page  122 

114.  B.  Gay  Wilkinson.  'Sand  Dunes.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1889 

115.  Heinrich  Kuhn.  'A  Venetian  Canal.'  Gum 
print  (charcoal  colour),  1897  (reproduction) 

116.  Lacroix.  'Park  Sweeper.'  Photogravure  of  a 
gum  print,  c.  1900 

117.  Robert  Demachy.  'Primavera.'  Photogravure 
of  a  gum  print  (red  chalk  colour),  c.  1896 

118.  Robert  Demachy.  'Behind  the  Scenes.'  Photo- 
gravure of  a,  gum  print,  1904 

119.  Edward  Steichen.  Auguste  Rodin  with  his 
sculpture  of  Victor  Hugo  and  'The  Thinker',  1902 

120.  Cover  of  exhibition  catalogue  of  artistic  photo- 
graphy held  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Art  in 
Berlin,  1899 

121.  Frau  E.  Nothmann.  'In  the  Garden.'  Photo- 
gravure of  a  gum  print,  c.  1896 

122.  Fred  Boissonnas.  'Faust  in  His  Study',  1898 
(reproduction) 

123.  J.  C.  Strauss.  Photographic  portrait  in  the  style 
of  Frans  Hals,  1904  (reproduction) 

124.  Richard  Polak.  Photograph  in  the  style  of  Pieter 
de  Hoogh,  1914  (reproduction) 

125.  Fred  Boissonnas.  'Coming  Home  from  the 
Theatre',  c.  1902 

126.  Lejaren  a  Hiller.  'Deposition  from  the  Cross', 
c.  1910 

127.  Edward  Steichen.  'Portrait  of  Lady  H.'  Photo- 
gravure of  a  coloured  gum  print,  c.  19 10 

128.  Hans  Watzek.  'A  Peasant.'  Photogravure  of  a 
gum  print,  1894 

129.  Theodorand  Oskar  Hofmeister.  'Great-grand- 
mother.' Photogravure  of  a  gum  print,  1897 

130.  Hugo  Erfurth.  Kathe  Kollwitz.  Oil-print, 
c.  1925 

131.  Alfred  Stieglitz.  'The  Terminal.'  Photogravure, 
1893 

132.  Title-page  of  catalogue  of  photographic  exhibi- 
tion held  at  the  Hamburg  Kunsthalle  (Art 
Gallery),  1899 

133.  First  page  of  eight-page  pamphlet  of  the  Inter- 
national Society  of  Pictorial  Photographers,  1 904 

134.  J.  Craig  Annan.  The  painter  and  etcher  Sir 
William  Strang.  Photogravure,  c.  1900 

135.  Maurice  Bucquet.  'Effet  de  Pluie',  c.  1899 

136.  H.  H.  H.  Cameron.  G.  F.  Watts.  Photogravure, 
c.  1892 

137.  Frederick  H.  Evans.  Aubrey  Beardsley.  Platino- 
type,  c.  1895 

138.  Clarence  H.  White.  'Lady  in  Black.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1898 

139.  Alice  Hughes.  The  Arch-Duchess  Stephanie 
(widow  of  Arch-Duke  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg). 
Platinotype,  1905 

140.  H.  Walter  Barnett.  Mrs  Saxton  Noble.  Platino- 
type, c.  1908 

141.  Alexander  Keighley.  'The  Bridge.'  Oil-print, 
1906. 

142.  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn.  Reflections.  Photo- 
gravure, 1908 

143.  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn.  W.  B.  Yeats.  Photo- 
gravure, 1908  147 


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128 


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139 

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143 


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146 
146 


144.  Clarence  H.  White.  'In  the  Orchard.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1902  page  147 

45.  Frederick  H.  Hollyer.  Aubrey  Beardsley,  1896  148 

46.  Alfred  Stieglitz.  'Going  to  the  Post.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1904 

47.  Harry  C.  Rubincam.  'The  Circus  Rider.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1905 

48.  Paul  Strand.  'The  White  Fence.'  Photogravure, 
1916 

49.  Alfred  Stieglitz.  'The  Steerage.'  Photogravure, 
1907 

50.  Paul  Strand.  New  York.  Photogravure,  1915 

51.  Paul  Strand.  Abstract  pattern  made  by  bowls. 
Photogravure,  19 15 

52.  Paul  Strand.  Blind  woman  in  New  York.  Photo- 
gravure, 191 5 

53.  John  Thomson.  Street  locksmith,  1876 

54.  John  Thomson.  Poor  woman  with  baby,  1876 

55.  Paul  Martin.  Flirtations  on  Yarmouth  beach, 
c.  1892 

56.  Paul  Martin.  Listening  to  a  concert  party  on 
Yarmouth  beach,  c.  1892 

57.  Anon.  Young  children  selling  food  in  New  York 
slum  quarter,  Mulberry  Bend,  1897 

58.  Eugene  Atget.  A  prostitute  at  Versailles,  c.  1920 

59.  Eugene  Atget.  Tree  roots  at  St  Cloud,  c.  1905 

60.  Eugene  Atget.  Corset  shop  in  the  Boulevard  de 
Strasbourg,  Paris,  c,  1905 

61.  W.  H.  Fox  Talbot.  Calotype  of  lace,  1842 

62.  Paul  Strand.  Shadow  pattern.  Photogravure, 
1916 

63.  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn.  Vortograph:  the  first 
abstract  photograph,  January  1917 

64.  Christian  Schad.  Schadograph,  i960.  (Replica 
specially  made  for  this  book) 

65.  Photo-montage,  c.  1868 

66.  Man  Ray.  Rayograph,  1921 

67.  L.  Moholy-Nagy.  Photogram,  1922 

68.  Man  Ray.  Solarization,  1931 

69.  L.  Moholy-Nagy.  View  from  radio  tower, 
Berlin,  1928 

70.  Andre  Kertesz.  Study  of  distortion,  1934  (re- 
production) 

71.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  One  seed  of  a  dandelion 
(35  x  mag.),  1936 

72.  Harold  E.  Edgerton.  Multiple  flash  photograph 
of  the  golfer  Dennis  Shute.  100  flashes  per 
second,  c.  1935 

73.  Dame  Kathleen  Lonsdale,  F.R.S.  X-ray  dif- 
fraction photograph  of  a  pentaerythritol  crystal 
having  tetragonal  symmetry.  (The  sharp  spots 
are  due  to  the  regular  arrangement  of  the  atoms; 
the  diffuse  spots  are  due  to  the  thermal  vibra- 
tions), i960 

174.  Harold  E.  Edgerton.  Splash  of  milk  resulting 
from  the  dropping  of  a  ball,  which  is  seen  on  the 
rebound.  Exposure  1  100,000  sec.  at  F.64,  1936 

175.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Driving  shaft  of  a 
locomotive,  1923 

176.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Leaf  of  a  Collocasia, 
1923 

177.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Potter's  hands,  1925 

178.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Breakwater  at  St  Malo, 
Brittany,  1942  174 


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169 


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171 

173 
173 


9 


179-  Close-up  from  D.  W.  Griffith's  'Intolerance', 

1916  page  174 

180.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Fisherwoman,  1927  175 

181.  Close-up  from  Eisenstein's  'Battleship  Potem- 
kin',  1925  176 

182.  Helmar  Lerski.  Workman,  1931  177 

183.  Maurice  Guibert.  Henri  de  Toulouse-Lautrec 

at  Malrome,  c.  1896  178 

184.  Maurice  Guibert.  Henri  de  Toulouse-Lautrec 

(the  first  true  close-up),  c.  1896  179 

185.  E.  O.  Hoppe.  Ship  in  drydock,  1928  180 

186.  E.  O.  Hoppe.  Manhattan  from  Brooklyn  Bridge, 
1919  181 

187.  Paul  Nash,  'Monster  Field.  Study  No.  1', 

c.  1943  181 

188.  C.  J.  Laughlin.  'The  Unending  Stream',  1939  182 

189.  Edward   Steichen.    Paul   Robeson   as  'The 
Emperor  Jones',  1933  183 

190.  Edward  Weston.  Paprika,  1930  184 

191.  Ansel  Adams.  Pine  cone  and  eucalyptus  leaves, 
1933  184 

192.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Piano  hammers,  1935  185 

193.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  The  new  town,  1935  186 

194.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Spiral  staircase  at  St  Paul's 
Cathedral:  looking  down,  1943  187 

195.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Skeleton  of  a  leaf  (detail). 
(Placed  between  two  glass  plates  and  enlarged 

2|  times  directly  on  to  bromide  paper),  1936  188 

196.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Hog-weed  (heracleum), 
1936  188 

197.  Helmut   Gernsheim.    Section   of  cucumber 
magnified  four  times,  1935  189 

198.  Casson.  'Accident'  (double  exposure),  c.  1935  190 

199.  Casson.  Surrealist  photograph,  c.  1935  190 

200.  Cecil  Beaton.  Jean  Cocteau,  1936  191 

201.  Edmiston.  Solarization,  c.  1934  192 

202.  Angus  McBean.   Dame  Peggy  Ashcroft  as 
Portia,  1938  192 

203.  Angus  McBean.  Pamela  Stanley  as  Queen 
Victoria,  1938  193 

204.  Photo-montage,  c.  1868  194 

205.  Sir  Edward  Blount.  Photo-montage,  1873  195 

206.  Peter  Keetman.  Oscillation  photograph,  1950  196 

207.  Peter  Keetman.  Oil  drops,  1956  197 

208.  Peter  Keetman.  Ice  on  lake  during  snowfall, 
1958  198 

209.  Hans  Hammarskiold.  Bark  of  a  tree,  1952  199 

210.  Otto  Steinert.  'Interchangeable  Forms',  1955  200 

211.  Hans  Hammarskiold.  Cross-section  through  a 
tree,  195 1  201 

212.  Otto  Steinert.  Snow  tracks.  Negative  montage, 
1954  202 


213.  Caroline  Hammarskiold.    Fishnet  reflection, 

1950  page  203 

214.  Arno  Hammachcr.  Reflections  in  Amsterdam, 

1 95 1  203 

215.  Arno  Hammacher.  Detail  of  iron  construction 

by  Naum  Gabo  in  Rotterdam,  1957  204 

216.  Rolf  Winquist.   Gertrud  Fridh  as   Medea,  205 
1951 

217.  218.  Peter  Moeschlin.  Seagull  in  flight,  c.  1952  206 
219.  Erich  Salomon.  At  the  Second  Hague  Con- 
ference on  Reparations,  January  1930.  Left  to 


right,  Loucheur,  Tardieu,  Curtius,  Cheron  208 

220.  Felix  H.  Man.  Igor  Stravinsky  conducting  at  a 
rehearsal,  1929  209 

221.  Felix  H.  Man.  Georges  Braque  in  his  studio, 
1952  210 

222.  Brassai.  Prostitute  in  Paris,  1933  211 

223.  Brassai.  Entrance  to  the  Bal  Tabarin,  Paris, 
1932  212 

224.  Bill  Brandt.  Coal  searcher,  1937  212 

225.  Ida  Kar.  Marc  Chagall,  1954  213 

226.  Walker  Evans.  At  Vicksburg,  Penn.,  1936  214 

227.  Dorothea  Lange.  Seasonal  farm  labourer's 
family  in  a  Southern  State,  1935-6  214 

228.  Arthur  Rothstein.  Farmer  and  sons  in  dust 
storm,  Cimarron  County,  Oklahoma,  1936  215 

229.  Henri  Cartier-Bresson.  Sunday  on  the  banks  of 

the  Marne,  1938  216 

230.  Kurt  Hutton.  At  the  fair,  1938  217 

231.  Erich  Auerbach.  Retired  civil  servant,  1944  218 

232.  Henri  Cartier-Bresson.  Matisse  in  his  studio, 
1944  219 

233.  Cecil  Beaton.  After  the  raid,  1940  220 

234.  Cecil  Beaton.  Wrecked  tank  in  the  Libyan 
Desert,  1942  220 

235.  Anon.  Demented  political  prisoner  in  Nazi  con- 
centration camp  after  liberation,  1945  221 

236.  Bert  Hardy.  South  Korean  political  prisoners 
at  Pusan  awaiting  transport  to  a  concentration 
camp  and  execution,  1950  221 

237.  Bert  Hardy.  Beggar  children  in  Barcelona,  1950  222 

238.  Werner  Bischof.  Famine  in  Madras  province, 
South  India,  1951  223 

239.  Werner  Bischof.  Stepping-stones  in  the  Heian 
Garden,  Kyoto,  1952  225 

240.  Werner  Bischof.  Floods  in  East  Hungary,  1947  226 

241.  George  Oddner.  Man  with  load,  Peru,  1955  227 

242.  George  Oddner.  Blind  beggar  in  Peru,  1955  228 

243.  Zacharia:  still  from  'Come  Back  Africa',  pro- 
duced and  directed  by  Lionel  Rogosin,  i960  228 

244.  George  Oddner.  Child  selling  vegetables  in 
Peru,  1955  229 


10 


INTRODUCTION 


1  he  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  which  gave 
birth  to  lithography,  also  saw  the  first  steps  towards 
the  invention  of  photography. 

Aloys  Senefelder  of  Munich  devised  in  1798  a 
method  of  surface-printing  from  stone,  a  material 
which  he  had  been  using  as  a  cheap  substitute  for 
copper  plates  in  printing  plays,  music  scores,  prayer- 
books  and  similar  work.  Five  years  later  the  first  pub- 
lication of  artists'  lithographs  appeared1 — in  England 
— and  it  was  this  that  brought  into  prominence  the 
possibilities  of  lithography  as  a  new  graphic  art. 

At  the  time  of  Senefelder's  invention  there  was  an 
increasing  demand  from  the  rising  middle  classes  for 
inexpensive  illustrations — reproductions  of  paint- 
ings, topographical  views,  and  in  particular  portraits 
of  themselves.  It  is  impossible  to  say  whether  this 
demand  led  Thomas  Wedgwood,  son  of  the  famous 
potter  Josiah  Wedgwood,  to  experiment  with  photo- 
graphy, or  whether  he  was  thinking  first  and  fore- 
most of  simplifying  the  task  of  the  art  department  at 
the  Etruria  Works  in  their  production  of  portrait 
plaques,  and  of  dinner  and  tea  services  decorated 
with  landscapes  and  the  country  seats  of  the  aristo- 
cracy. But  it  is  known  for  certain  that  Wedgwood 
employed  in  his  experiments  the  camera  obscura  used 
by  the  firm  for  sketching  such  views. 

Since  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  this 
optical  instrument  had  been  in  demand  to  an  ever- 
increasing  extent  as  an  aid  to  drawing  in  perfect  per- 
spective and  to  achieve  an  exact  copy  of  nature.  The 
image  thrown  upon  the  ground-glass  screen  by  the 
lens  had  to  be  traced  by  hand,  and  the  desire  to  find 

1  'Specimens  of  Polyautography,  consisting  of  impres- 
sions taken  from  original  drawings  made  purposely  for 
this  work.'  Published  bv  Philipp  Andre,  London,  30  April 
1803. 


a  chemical  process  'by  which  natural  objects  may  be 
made  to  delineate  themselves  without  the  aid  of  the 
artist's  pencil' — as  Fox  Talbot  put  it — probably 
occurred  to  many  artists  and  scientists  using  the  ap- 
paratus. Thomas  Wedgwood  was  the  first  person  to 
attempt  this.  He  failed  owing  to  insufficient  chemical 
knowledge,  but  his  'Account  of  a  method  of  copying 
paintings  upon  glass  and  of  making  profiles  by  the 
agency  of  light  upon  nitrate  of  silver'2  describes  the 
first  deliberate  experiments  towards  photography. 

Independently,  a  number  of  other  investigators  in 
France  and  England  took  up  the  problem.  The  first 
to  succeed  was  Nicephore  Niepce,  a  French  land- 
owner with  scientific  interests,  who  approached 
photography  through  Senefelder's  invention,  for 
originally  he  wanted  to  make  lithographs,  which  had 
become  a  fashionable  hobby  in  France.  His  artistic 
skill  proving  inadequate,  Niepce  tried  to  find  a  way 
of  fixing  the  images  of  the  camera  obscura  chemically 
— initially  on  lithographic  stone.  After  ten  years  of 
experimentation  with  a  great  variety  of  materials 
Niepce  managed  in  1826  to  obtain  a  faint  'helio- 
graph' or  'sun  drawing'  on  a  pewter  plate  coated 
with  bitumen  of  Judea,  a  substance  which  he  dis- 
covered to  be  light-sensitive.  The  exposure  of  this, 
the  world's  first  photograph  (No.  1),  was  eight  hours 
in  full  sunshine! 

Heliographic  plates  were  intended  to  be  etched 
and  inked  in  order  to  print  a  large  number  of  copies 
on  paper.  However,  pictures  from  nature  taken  in 
the  camera  obscura  were  too  faint,  and  Niepce  only 
succeeded  in  printing  from  those  plates  which  he 
had  made  by  placing  line  engravings  directly  on  the 
sensitive  surface;  i.e.  art  reproductions. 

-Journal  of  the  Royal  Institution,  London,  June  1802. 


1 1 


I .  Nicephore  Niepce.  View  from  his  workroom  window  at  his  estate  Gras  near  Chalon-sur-Saone.  The  point- 
illiste  appearance  of  the  reproduction  is  due  to  surface  impurities  of  the  pewter  plate  which  are  unnoticeable 
in  the  original. 


Niepce,  Daguerre,  Talbot  and  other  independent 
inventors  of  photography,  the  Rev  J.  B.  Reade,  Sir 
John  Herschel,  Hippolyte  Bayard  and  Friedrich 
Gerber— all  thought  only  of  the  practical  usefulness 
of  the  invention  in  copying  nature.  The  possibility 
of  photography  being  a  creative  art  was  an  idea  as 
far  removed  from  their  minds  as  the  artistic  applica- 
tion of  lithography  had  been  from  Senefelder's.  As  in 
the  case  of  lithography,  it  was  several  years  after  the 
introduction  of  photography  to  the  public  that  the 
first  conscious  effort  in  this  direction  emerged.  Like 
the  older  technique,  photography  had  to  fight  for 
recognition  as  a  graphic  art,  though  a  host  of  dis- 
tinguished artists  in  both  media  have  given  ample 
proof  that  they  can  be  creative  art  forms,  as  well  as 
inexpensive  methods  of  illustration. 


There  is  probably  no  sphere  of  activity  in  our 
modern  civilization  that  could  be  thought  of  today 
without  photography.  Its  thousandfold  applications 
to  science,  medicine,  industry,  commerce,  education, 
the  cinema,  television,  etc.,  have  made  photography 
indispensable  in  daily  life.  Next  to  the  printed  word 
the  photographic  image  is  the  widest  form  of  com- 
munication, and  for  this  reason  it  has  been  aptly 
called  the  most  important  invention  since  that  of  the 
printing  press.  Photography  in  the  service  of  man- 
kind disseminates  information  about  man  and 
nature,  records  the  visible  world,  and  extends  our 
knowledge  far  beyond  it. 

In  considering  the  artistic  aspect  of  photography 
we  are  not  concerned  with  photographs  intended  to 
serve  scientific  or  technical  purposes,  although  some 


12 


of  them  do  have  great  aesthetic  appeal,  which  is  of 
course  incidental  (No.  2). 

We  can  also  ignore  the  billions  of  snapshots  taken 
every  year  by  the  estimated  hundred  million  camera 
users  all  over  the  world  for  no  other  purpose  than  to 
serve  as  mementoes  of  family  events  and  holidays. 
For  the  snapshooter  a  photograph  is  merely  'a  mir- 
ror with  a  memory',  to  borrow  the  expression  from 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  It  bears  the  same  relation- 
ship to  a  composed  creative  picture,  as  noise  does  to 
music.  Only  a  tiny  core  of  amateurs  and  profes- 
sionals— perhaps  no  more  than  1  per  cent  of  all 
camera  owners — strive  to  use  their  apparatus  crea- 
tively. In  other  words,  only  a  minute  proportion  of 
the  immense  output  of  photographs  has  any  preten- 
sions to  art — an  important  point  which  critics  in- 
variably overlook  in  discussing  the  subject.  If  few 
photographers  succeed  in  their  intentions,  this  only 
proves  the  elusiveness  of  the  creative  element  in  a 
technique  almost  anyone  can  learn  to  master,  but  is 
no  reason  for  denying  to  photography  the  existence 
of  such  creative  possibilities.  Is  not  the  position  anal- 
ogous to  that  in  other  art  media  in  which  thousands 
of  mediocrities  are  produced  for  every  masterpiece? 
Yet  we  admire  these  arts  in  spite  of  the  abundance 
of  failures. 

Whether  photography  is  or  is  not  an  art  is  a  ques- 
tion that  has  been  debated  from  the  moment  it  came 
before  the  public  in  1839.  It  is  nonetheless  a  futile 
argument,  for  the  question  is  not  whether  photo- 
graphy is  an  art  per  se — neither  music,  literature, 
painting  nor  sculpture  can  make  that  claim,  although 
they  are  classed  amongst  the  fine  arts — but  whether 
it  is  capable  of  artistic  expression.  In  its  compara- 
tively short  history  convincing  proof  has  been  forth- 
coming that  in  the  hands  of  a  true  artist  photography 
can  be  an  art,  and  we  trust  that  the  illustrations  bear 
this  out. 

Since  its  official  introduction  in  1839  photography 
has  passed  through  a  number  of  stylistic  phases 
which  coincide  more  or  less  with  similar  periods  in 
painting;  only  in  photography  they  are  trends  rather 
than  periods,  confined  to  a  few  photographers.  Some 
were  due  to  the  influence  of  contemporary  thought 
and  taste,  some  to  technical  developments,  and  a  few 
owe  their  origin  to  schools  of  painting.  Whilst  the 
majority  of  creative  photographers  have  been  satis- 
fied to  explore  the  pictorial  possibilities  of  their 
medium,  remaining  purely  photographic  in  concep- 


tion and  execution,  mistaken  ambition  to  compete 
with  painting  drove  a  minority  to  artificial  picture- 
making  alien  to  the  nature  of  photography.  From  the 
1 850s  onward  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  'pictorial- 
ism'  dominated  photographic  exhibitions,  and  it  still 
forms  a  substantial  proportion  of  certain  Salon  ex- 
hibitions today,  just  as  descriptive  popular  painting 
remains  entrenched  in  art  academies.  Thus  whilst  a 
number  of  progressive  painters  and  photographers 
have  explored  new  fields,  constituting  the  modern 
movement  in  art  and  photography,  for  the  defenders 
of  traditional  art  time  has  stood  still. 

It  is  understandable  that  it  has  always  been  those 
photographs  closest  to  contemporary  painting  in 
style  and  feeling,  i.e.  those  apparently  most  ad- 
vanced, that  make  a  special  appeal  to  art  critics.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  they  are  usually  the  very  pic- 
tures that  are  least  true  to  photographic  technique — 
a  fact  to  which  the  art  critic  seems  quite  oblivious. 
He  is  naturally  so  absorbed  in  the  image-making  of 
the  painter  and  the  graphic  artist  that  he  is  apt  to 
apply  the  same  criteria  to  photography,  seeking  in  it 
qualities  characteristic  of  other  art  media.  To  appre- 
ciate photography  requires  above  all  understanding 
of  the  qualities  and  limitations  peculiar  to  it. 

Prejudice,  jealousy,  and  sheer  ignorance  of  the 
functions  of  photography  were  bound  to  frustrate 
any  rational  argument  so  long  as  it  was  considered  a 
cheap  substitute  for,  or  a  short-cut  to,  painting.  For 
nearly  a  century  the  apparent  parallelism  of  drawing 
with  light  and  painting  in  oils  befogged  artists  and 
critics  alike.  The  misconception  was  first  brought 
forward  by  the  painter  Paul  Delaroche,  whose  classic 
remark  on  first  seeing  a  daguerreotype:  'From  today, 
painting  is  dead!'  was  prophetic,  though  premature. 
For  a  time,  painting  became  still  more  naturalistic 
in  competition  with  photography.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  those  European  schools  of  painting  which 
from  the  fifteenth  century  onward  considered  a  mir- 
ror-like imitation  of  nature  the  aim  of  art,  photo- 
graphy seemed  the  ne  plus  ultra.  The  absurdity  of 
judging  paintings  by  the  standards  of  photographic 
truth,  and  photographs  by  the  degree  to  which  they 
succeeded  in  imitating  fine  art  was  realized  only 
after  a  great  deal  of  trash  had  resulted. 

Since  the  First  World  War  a  re-assessment  of  the 
functions  for  which  each  art  is  ideally  suited  inevit- 
ably led  to  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  the  painter 
from  representing  the  appearance  of  the  outside 


13 


world.  A  hundred  years  after  Delaroche,  painting  as 
•  he  knew  it  was  in  fact  dead — or  at  least  confined  to 
unprogressive  academic  circles.  The  bewildering 
number  of  styles  and  conflicting  trends  that  followed 
each  other  in  quick  succession  during  the  last  sixty 
years  aimed  increasingly  at  divesting  painting  of  any 
reference  to  reality,  and  left  the  recording  of  the 
visual  world  entirely  to  the  still  and  cine-camera. 

Photography  and  modern  painting  have  become 
mutually  exclusive  in  their  subject  matter:  the  photo- 
grapher draws  his  inspiration  from  the  observation 
of  life,  registering  with  the  camera  what  he  is  guided 
to  by  the  eye.  The  painter  is  preoccupied  with  the 
observation  of  his  mind;  he  seems  bent  upon  the 
intellectualization  of  art,  creating  the  purely  subjec- 


tive, abstract  designs,  which  Moholy-Nagy  pre- 
dicted in  1925  all  painting  would  sooner  or  later  be- 
come. An  inevitable  consequence  of  this  develop- 
ment was  that  the  artist  lost  touch  with  humanity, 
and  the  public  grew  more  and  more  dependent  on 
the  camera. 

'This  powerful  enemy'  (wrote  R.  H.  Wilenski  a 
few  years  ago)1  'rejoicing  in  the  rich  completeness 
of  his  language,  triumphant  as  an  image-maker  in 
the  whole  wide  range  of  his  narrative,  dramatic  and 
romantic  subject  matter,  and  master  of  immense  dis- 
tributing resources,  continually  confronts  all  pain- 
ters; and  the  situation,  as  I  see  it,  is  just  this.  The 

1  Preface  to  the  1956  edition  of  The  Modern  Movement 
in  Art. 


2.  Professor  Schardin.  Temperature  distribution  around  a  heated  metal  tube,  c.  1950 

14 


art  of  painting  can  only  conquer  in  this  fight  when 
the  artists  have  finally  abandoned  to  the  camera  and 
television  men  all  the  dramatic,  sentimental,  semi- 
erotic  and  descriptive  material  formerly  used  by 
painters,  and  when  they  have  in  fact  invented  a  new 
and  extensive  symbolic  pictorial  technique  which 
they  can  use  to  communicate  to  themselves  their 
formal  and  other  experiences.' 

Judging  from  his  chapter  on  'The  Camera's  In- 
fluence', Mr  Wilenski's  knowledge  of  photography 
is  limited  to  the  old-fashioned  type  of  Salon  exhibi- 
tion so  much  in  evidence  at  the  Royal  Photographic 
Society.  Thus  he  has  formed  as  erroneous  views  about 
photography,  as  anyone  basing  his  knowledge  of 
painting  solely  on  the  summer  exhibitions  at  the 
Royal  Academy  would  have  of  painting.  'Art'  photo- 
graphers have  long  laboured  under  the  delusion  that 
they  were  elevating  photography  by  distorting  the 
image  into  a  semblance  of  other  forms  of  graphic 
art.  Therein  lies  their  conception  of  'art'.  Artists 
have  committed  no  less  serious  errors  of  judgment 
as  regards  unsuitability  of  medium.  (A  recent  ex- 
ample that  comes  to  mind  is  the  realistically  modelled 
bronze  chair  with  over-lifesize  fruit  and  vegetables 
by  Giacomo  Manzu.  The  composition  would  have 
made  an  excellent  photograph;  as  a  nineteenth- 
century  painting  it  might  have  been  acceptable,  but 
sculpture  is  the  wrong  medium  for  the  subject.) 
Nevertheless  a  wise  critic  bases  his  opinions  on  the 
evidence  of  the  positive  qualities  of  an  art,  not  on 
the  failures  of  an  outmoded  clique.  Yet  this  is  ex- 
actly where  his  hostility  to  'the  enemy'  has  let  Mr 
Wilenski  down.  He  failed  to  enlarge  his  experience 
by  studying  the  classic  period  of  photography  before 
the  turn  of  the  century,  and  is  strangely  unaware  of 
the  modern  movement  in  photography  which  began 
just  at  the  time  he  wrote  his  book  in  1926. 

Were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  Mr  Wilenski  was  one 
of  the  first  art  historians  to  discuss  photography's 
influence  on  painting — whereas  others  simply  failed 
to  perceive  it  or  ostrich-like  tried  to  ignore  it — I 
would  not  attach  such  importance  to  his  statements. 
But  some  of  his  views  on  the  aesthetics  of  photo- 
graphy are  too  distorted  to  be  passed  over.  'Today 
everyone  recognizes  that  the  camera  cannot  com- 
ment; that  it  cannot  select.'  I  admit  nothing  of  the 
kind.  Photography  is  a  constant  process  of  selection, 
and  in  the  power  of  commenting  lies  the  reportage 
photographer's  greatest  strength. 


I  am  equally  confounded  by  Mr  Wilenski's  asser- 
tion that  'the  camera  cannot  record  a  house,  a  tree,  or 
a  man.  It  can  only  record  the  momentary  effects  and 
degrees  of  light  as  affected  by  such  physical  objects 
and  concrete  things.'  As  proof  he  puts  forward  that 
'a  cottage  recorded  by  the  camera  at  ten  in  the  morn- 
ing is  a  different  cottage  from  that  recorded  by  the 
same  camera  in  the  same  position  at  four  in  the  after- 
noon, because  the  lights  and  shades — which  consti- 
tute the  camera's  records — have  entirely  changed'. 
Of  course  it  is  different — not  only  to  the  camera  but 
to  any  observer.  Similarly  a  photograph  taken  from 
the  top  of  a  step-ladder  is  bound  to  give  a  different 
view  of  the  cottage  from  one  taken  at  the  same  (or 
any  other)  moment  from  the  ground.  If  these  ex- 
amples prove  anything,  it  is  the  great  variety 
of  possibilities  at  the  photographer's  disposal  to 
record  the  cottage,  but  not  his  supposed  inability 
to  record  its  forms.  A  house  not  subject  to  such 
changes  of  light  and  apparent  position  does  not 
exist. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  go  into  every  point  of  this 
kind.  I  will  only  add  that  Mr  Wilenski's  claim  that 
'the  camera  can  never  represent  motion'  is  no  less 
fallacious  than  some  of  his  other  statements.  No  artist 
can  suggest  motion  as  well  as  a  photographer,  neither 
by  the  naturalistic  technique  as  in  Courbet's  'Wave' 
nor  by  symbolism  such  as  the  'rocking-horse'  atti- 
tude adopted  by  all  nineteenth-century  painters  for 
fast-moving  horses,  until  photography  made  this  and 
other  symbols  (flashes  of  lightning,  for  instance) 
look  ridiculous.  Contrary  to  Mr  Wilenski's  view  that 
'the  symbolic  representational  artist  can  always  re- 
present motion'  (whereas  the  camera  cannot),  I  con- 
sider that  this  obsolete  artist's  formula  does  not 
represent  horses  galloping,  as  perceived  by  the 
human  mind.  Surely  we  have  to  correct  the  artist's 
impression,  and  not  the  camera's  records,  as  Mr 
Wilenski  claims,  even  though  the  press  photograph 
of  race-horses  reproduced  in  his  book  is  not  the  best 
example  of  its  kind.  Movement  is  sometimes  inten- 
tionally 'frozen'  by  press  photographers  in  the  know- 
ledge that  their  editor,  adhering  to  the  popular 
misconception,  would  reject  a  photograph  in  which 
the  moving  objects  were  slightly  blurred  as  'technic- 
ally imperfect'.  Nevertheless  we  see  daily  photo- 
graphs of  fast-moving  trains  (No.  3),  race-horses, 
motor  racing,  football  players,  birds,  etc.,  conveying 
a  perfect  impression  of  movement  by  slight  blurring 


15 


3.  A  fast-moving  train.  Photographic  poster,  i960 


either  of  the  moving  object,  or  of  the  background, 
the  object  itself  being  represented  sharp. 

To  consider  photography  as  the  enemy  of  painting 
— which  Mr  Wilenski  is  not  alone  in  doing — is  an 
untenable  view.  In  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
the  painter  who  stubbornly  waged  war  on  the  photo- 
grapher as  his  rival — the  more  so  since  he  adopted 
his  rival's  technique.  Today,  the  aims  of  photo- 
graphy and  painting  are  no  longer  confused.  Artists 
have  long  made  the  necessary  adjustment,  but  those 
critics  who,  like  John  Berger,  see  in  a  return  to  real- 
istic or  descriptive  painting  the  salvation  of  art  from 
the  contemporary  chaos  are  equally  mistaken.  Real- 
istic painting  would  stand  no  chance  of  survival  in 
competition  with  photography.  We  must  face  the 
fact  that  this  is  the  age  of  photography.  Even  if 
photography  were  only  'a  waste  product  of  art',  as 


the  professor  of  art  history  at  Cologne  University 
libelled  it,  there  is  no  denying  that  it  has  success- 
fully taken  over  the  traditional  function  of  art  as  a 
means  of  communication. 

Despite  the  constant  comparisons  of  photography 
with  painting,  because  of  their  mutual  influence, 
they  are  two  entirely  different  activities  with  different 
aims.  Painting  is  concerned  with  recording  the 
artist's  experience  of  an  event,  photography  with 
recording  a  selected  aspect  of  the  event  itself.  The 
camera  intercepts  images;  the  paint  brush  recon- 
structs them.  Photographic  technique  is  much 
more  closely  related  to  the  processes  of  print-making, 
for  photographs  are  usually  small  in  size  and  lacking 
colour.  Colour  and  large  size  play  a  very  important 
part  in  the  appreciation  of  painting.  Their  lack  is  not 
inherent  in  the  photographic  medium  but  has  other 
causes.  Good  colour  photographs  can  be  taken  any 
day  but  there  is  little  demand  for  them  as  long  as 
printing  costs  are  prohibitive  and  the  quality  of  re- 
production fails  to  do  justice  to  the  original.  Few 
photographs  are  nowadays  made  for  exhibition  pur- 
poses, so  the  need  for  impressive  size  does  not  arise 
either  in  black  and  white  or  in  colour. 

The  role  size  plays  as  a  psychological  factor  in  the 
general  appreciation  of  photography  was  clearly 
demonstrated  by  the  exhibition  of  Ida  Kar's  por- 
traits at  the  Whitechapel  Art  Gallery  in  spring  i960. 
The  moment  critics  saw  photographs  the  size  of 
mural  paintings  they  were  unanimous  in  their  ver- 
dict: this  is  art.  It  was,  but  size  did  not  enter  into  the 
question.  The  trained  eye  can  see  the  artistic  value 
of  a  picture — whether  a  photograph  or  a  painting — 
in  a  small  print.  On  this  basis  all  qualities  bar  colour 
do  admit  of,  and  frequently  force,  a  comparative 
evaluation  of  a  painting  with  a  photograph — at  least 
in  descriptive  painting. 

As  in  engraving,  etching,  and  lithography,  the 
artistic  effort  in  photography  goes  into  the  produc- 
tion of  the  original  image,  which  is  unique,  and 
from  which  a  large  number  of  prints  can  be  made  on 
paper.  Each  medium  has  its  appropriate  tools  that 
are  guided  according  to  the  artist's  conception.  In 
photography,  the  tool  is  the  camera. 

The  camera  imposes  its  own  visual  laws — optical 
laws,  which  differ  from  the  rules  of  linear  perspective 
laid  down  in  the  Renaissance  for  painting.  Optical 
perspective  varies  greatly  with  the  focal  length  of  the 
lens  used,  with  its  distance  from  the  object,  and  the 


16 


angle  from  which  the  picture  is  taken.  It  can  result 
in  distortions  which  astonish  any  inexperienced  per- 
son naively  believing  the  time-worn  slogan  'Photo- 
graphy cannot  lie'  (No.  4). 

Having  freed  the  photographer  from  traditional 
rules  of  composition  the  camera  also  provided  him 
with  unlimited  freedom  of  movement,  novel  view- 
points, and  a  casualness  enjoyed  by  no  artist  before. 
In  short,  it  enabled  him  to  present  old  subjects  in  a 
new  light. 

Yet  not  only  visually  has  photography  introduced 
an  entirely  new  way  of  depicting  the  world  around 
us.  In  subject  matter,  too,  the  cameraman  has — with 
the  exception  of  portraiture  and  views — departed 
from  the  traditional  themes  of  the  painter  by  con- 
centrating on  ordinary  events  and  sights,  and  giving 
us  close-ups  and  spontaneous  slices  of  life — purely 
photographic  subject  matter.  The  new  visual  pre- 
sentation, known  as  'photographic  vision',  has  con- 
ditioned us  to  a  new  kind  of  aesthetics.  Many 
painters  acquired  it  through  their  use  of  the  camera, 
or  through  extensive  study  of  photographs,  foremost 
amongst  them  Degas,  Toulouse-Lautrec,  Utrillo, 
Sickert. 

On  the  other  hand  the  camera  imposes  limitations 
that  do  not  exist  for  the  graphic  artist,  who  can  draw 
on  experiences,  give  rein  to  his  imagination,  make 
nature  conform  to  his  conception,  and  express  him- 
self in  symbols.  The  photographer  has  none  of  these 
possibilities  at  his  disposal,  being  bound  to  the  de- 
piction of  existing  objects,  but  he  can  use  the  camera 
in  an  interpretative  manner  to  overcome  the  limita- 
tions of  literalism — and  that  is  where  the  creative 
element  enters  into  an  otherwise  mechanical  and  re- 
productive technique. 

For  the  creative  photographer,  the  camera  is  an 
extension  of  his  vision — and  through  his,  the  on- 
looker's. Even  the  latest  fully  automatic  camera  can 
only  ensure  a  correctly  exposed  and  sharp  negative: 
it  cannot  distinguish  between  a  meaningless  snap- 
shot and  a  significant  picture.  This  distinction — the 
creative  faculty — entirely  depends  on  the  man  be- 
hind the  camera.  Where  the  mechanical  photo- 
grapher will  merely  reproduce,  the  creative  photo- 
grapher perceives  essential  qualities  of  form  and 
composition  and  interprets  effectively  the  mood  and 
colour  of  a  scene  or  object  according  to  his  taste, 
judgment  and  temperament.  If  photography  were  a 
purely  mechanical  reproduction  of  nature,  half-a- 

B 


dozen  photographers  taking  the  same  subject  would 
produce  six  identical  pictures.  But  quite  on  the 
contrary,  their  results  will  vary  enormously  accord- 
ing to  their  choice  of  viewpoint,  camera  angle,  light- 
ing (Nos.  5  &  6),  the  selection  of  certain  details  and 
the  elimination  of  others,  the  stressing  of  one  aspect 
of  the  subject  as  against  another  through  differential 
focus,  etc.  Choice  of  lens  (wide-angle,  normal,  tele- 
photo),  film  (monochrome  or  colour),  variations  in 
developing  and  in  the  making  of  the  positive  print, 
allow  the  photographer  additional  latitude  in  inter- 
pretation. And  these  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  ways 
in  which  he  can  express  his  personality  in  the  picture. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  evolution  of  photo- 
graphic picture-making  was  largely  influenced  by 
technical  development:  (a)  the  evolution  of  the 


4.  Advertisement  for  Industrial  Life  Offices 
Association,  c.  1959 


5.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Loch  Linnhe  at  mid-day.  1946 


camera  from  the  cumbersome  apparatus  of 
Daguerre's  day  to  the  modern  miniature  camera; 
(b)  the  increasing  sensitivity  of  the  material  at  the 
photographer's  disposal,  and  (c)  the  invention  of 
auxiliary  equipment  such  as  stroboscopic  light.  For 
this  reason  photography  is  understandably  con- 
sidered first  and  foremost  as  a  technique  and  tech- 
nical aspects  of  it  predominate  discussions  in  photo- 
graphic circles.  Judging  from  the  totally  inadequate 
space  accorded  to  the  discussion  and  illustration  of 
pictures  in  most  photographic  magazines,  one  is 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  training  and  outlook 
render  most  editors  quite  oblivious  to  aesthetic  as 
distinct  from  technical  qualities.  Catering  for  a 
largely  uncultured  readership,  they  provide  the  means 
rather  than  the  end.  The  photographic  industry  has 
conditioned  photographers  to  believe  that  the  quali- 
ties of  a  photograph  depend  on  instruments  and 
materials,  and  no  editor  dependent  on  advertising 
revenue  will  proclaim  the  truth — that  good  photo- 
graphs are  the  result  of  the  perceptive  powers  and 
ability  of  the  photographer  and  that  technical  data 


6.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Loch  Linnhe,  late  afternoon. 
1946 

are  completely  meaningless.  It  would  not  occur  to 
anyone  to  ascribe  the  brilliance  of  a  pianist  to  the 
outstanding  qualities  of  his  piano,  and  it  would  seem 
ridiculous  were  a  painter  to  acknowledge  the  pro- 
ducer of  his  colours  and  brushes.  Why,  then,  should 
we  expect  a  photographer  to  mention  his  camera, 
lens,  or  shutter  speed?  The  result  obtained  with  one 
type  of  instrument  or  lens  could  have  been  just  as 
well  achieved  with  a  different  make. 

To  achieve  artistically  satisfying  photographs  re- 
quires an  equally  intensive  study  of  art  and  cultiva- 
tion of  mind  as  any  other  artistic  activity.  The 
cultivation  of  taste  by  frequent  visits  to  art  exhibi- 
tions, and  the  study  of  the  work  of  leading  photo- 
graphers and  film  directors  form  an  essential  part 
of  the  photographer's  education.  Some  of  the  great- 
est photographers  started  with  the  advantage  of 
having  been  artists  in  other  fields  first.  But  unfor- 
tunately, as  in  the  case  of  photographic  magazines, 
most  European  schools  of  photography  neglect  the 
art  side,  and  are  satisfied  with  turning  out  technic- 
ally competent  operators.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons 


why  the  number  of  creative  photographers  is  so 
comparatively  small — out  of  all  proportion,  in  fact, 
to  those  practising  it.  Another  is  the  lamentably  low 
level  of  general  education  and  culture  of  those  taking 
up  photography  professionally,  particularly  in  this 
country,  where  it  is  still  classified  as  a  trade  open  to 
anyone  and  'qualifications'  are  measured  by  the 
financial  success  of  the  business.  Photography  does 
not,  however,  form  an  exception  to  other  professions 
in  its  mental  requirements,  and  the  sooner  the  erron- 
eous idea  dies  that  whoever  has  failed  in  everything 
else  can  still  make  the  grade  in  photography,  the 
better  will  it  be  for  photography.  In  America  the 
outlook  for  photography  is  much  brighter:  at  least 
thirty  Colleges  and  Universities  give  courses  on 
photography  as  a  creative  art. 

I  am  frequently  asked  why  up  to  about  1900 
Britain  and  France  made  the  most  important  con- 
tribution to  the  development  of  photography.  The 
explanation  is  simpler  than  most  people  suppose. 
Whereas  in  other  countries  photography  was  chiefly 
practised  as  a  portrait  business — and  by  the  type  of 
person  nowadays  engaged  in  it  here — producing 
competent  but  uninspired  work,  in  Britain  and 
France  there  were  in  addition  a  large  number  of 
cultured  amateurs  of  the  professional  middle  and 
upper  class,  to  whom  photography  was  a  hobby  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  word.  Even  when  they  adopted 
it  as  their  profession  they  did  so  first  and  foremost 
from  an  urge  to  create;  they  photographed  to  satisfy 
their  artistic  urge  and  hoped  thereby  to  elevate 
photography  as  an  art.  Taste  and  a  critical  faculty 
trained  in  classical  art  were  perhaps  their  greatest 
assets.  By  far  the  largest  group  were  former  painters: 
D.  O.  Hill,  O.  G.  Rejlander,  James  Anderson,  Lake 
Price,  Edouard  Baldus,  Charles  Negre,  Gustave  Le 
Gray.  Adam-Salomon  was  a  sculptor,  Nadar  and 
Carjat  caricaturists,  P.  H.  Delamotte  a  professor  of 
drawing.  Thomas  Keith  and  Robert  MacPherson 
were  surgeons,  Henry  White  and  Roger  Fenton 
lawyers,  Maxime  Du  Camp,  Theophile  Gautier 
and  Lewis  Carroll  were  authors,  Paul  Martin  a 
wood-engraver,  Eugene  Atget  an  actor,  Hippolyte 
Bayard  a  civil  servant.  Others  belonged  to  the  upper 
class  or  aristocracy:  Mrs  J.  M.  Cameron,  Lady 
Ha  warden,  Lady  Caledon,  Count  O.  Aguado, 
Girault  de  Prangey,  John  Shaw  Smith,  Camille  Silvy, 
Count  Flacheron,  Count  Primoli  and  many  others. 

The  development  of  photography  as  a  creative  art 


testifies  not  only  to  the  emergence  of  individual 
styles  but  also  to  the  same  aesthetic  trends  dependent 
on  the  Zeitgeist  that  are  discernible  in  the  other  arts. 
To  the  critic  acquainted  with  the  work  of  great 
photographers  there  is  evident  as  much  difference  in 
style,  treatment  of  and  preference  for  certain  sub- 
jects, as  a  connoisseur  of  painting  finds  in  the  works 
of  painters.  Indeed,  nothing  but  a  wall  of  prejudice 
excludes  photography  from  the  fine  arts,  still  defined 
by  the  Oxford  Dictionary  as  'those  that  appeal  to  the 
sense  of  beauty',  although  art  has  for  several  decades 
now  expressed  different  ideals.  Beauty  is  relative 
and  takes  on  a  different  meaning  with  almost  every 
generation.  In  Queen  Victoria's  reign  morality  and 
beauty  became  almost  synonymous — an  ideal  first 
propounded  by  Kant,  and  responsible  for  much 
trash  in  art.  In  abstract  art,  the  decorative  element, 
the  rhythm  and  vitality  of  form  are  its  chief  attrac- 
tion. The  subject  painter,  if  he  is  true  to  our  time,  is 
bound  to  reflect  its  disharmony,  violence  and  ugli- 
ness. Far  from  delighting  the  onlooker's  senses,  he 
may  evoke  nausea. 

The  creative  photographer,  too,  has  come  to 
realize  that  conventional  beauty  only  results  in 
hackneyed  themes.  He  goes  in  search  of  something 
subtler  and  deeper — the  interest  of  everyday  life,  the 
vitality  of  action,  the  expressiveness  of  a  situation, 
the  beauty  which  lies  in  unusual  form,  texture  and 
pattern,  and  above  all,  human  relationships.  Ugli- 
ness, poverty,  and  sympathy  with  humanity  have 
inspired  some  of  the  most  powerful  photographs.  In 
showing  the  world  as  it  really  is — not  a  glorified 
Hollywood  version — the  modern  photographer  sees 
his  most  important  function.  In  his  hands  the  camera 
is  a  weapon;  by  virtue  of  its  stark  realism  the  impact 
of  a  photograph  can  rouse  human  emotion  to  a 
degree  to  which  no  other  graphic  art  can  aspire 
(No.  7). 

The  chief  difference,  then,  between  photography 
and  the  other  graphic  arts  lies  not  in  their  creative 
possibilities,  but  in  the  purpose  underlying  their  pro- 
duction. Photographs  are  made  for  use,  paintings  to 
be  sold.  The  photographer  requires  his  pictures  to  be 
reproduced,  whilst  the  painter's  main  concern  is  to 
find  a  buyer  for  his  canvases.  (The  portrait  painter 
and  portrait  photographer  work  exclusively  on  com- 
mission and  therefore  fall  into  a  different  category.) 

European  easel-paintings  have  been  in  existence 
for  about  five  and  a  half  centuries  and  have  been 


19 


collected  by  patrons,  connoisseurs  and  museums. 
Being  symbols  of  wealth — apart  from  their  intrinsic 
artistic  value — a  high  proportion  have  survived.  The 
world's  leading  art  galleries  pride  themselves  on 
their  representative  collections  of  the  various  schools. 

Photography  has  only  been  before  the  public  for 
122  years.  As  in  the  case  of  the  slightly  older  art  of 
lithography,  until  recently1  no  very  high  value  has  so 
far  been  attached  to  individual  photographs,  except 
in  the  case  of  news  scoops.  Yet  unlike  the  other 
graphic  arts,  photographic  prints  are  hardly  ever 
published  in  editions.  Rarely  are  more  than  three  or 
four  copies  made.  Not  being  intended  for  wall  de- 
coration but  as  a  rule  for  publication,  photographs 
often  die  of  neglect  once  they  have  served  their  pur- 
pose. The  exhibition  photographs  that  have  survived 
from  the  early  decades  of  photography  are  com- 
paratively few.  Until  quite  recently  photographs  were 
not  considered  worth  collecting,  with  the  result  that 
vast  quantities  of  nineteenth-century  photographs 
have  been  lost  for  ever.  This  neglect  has  made  early 
photography  one  of  the  scarcest  fields  for  the  collec- 
tor, and  now  that  a  few  perceptive  people  are  be- 
coming aware  of  the  important  part  played  by  photo- 
graphy in  aesthetic  development  and  its  influence  on 
painting,  the  difficulty  of  retrieving  what  former  lack 
of  imagination  cast  aside  is  insuperable. 

Far  from  trying  to  rectify  the  situation,  our 
museums  of  art  and  applied  art  have  adopted  such 
an  arrogant  attitude  towards  photography  that  the 
entire  field  is  left  to  the  care  and  interest  of  museums 
of  science  and  technology.  Consequently  the  public 
only  sees  such  photographs  as  show  a  phase  in  the 
technical  evolution  of  photography,  together  with 
apparatus  and  chemical  bottles.  In  Munich  a 
museum  of  'photography'  is  in  course  of  establish- 
ment, but  so  far  its  contents  consist  of  a  thousand 
lenses!  Photography,  the  Cinderella  of  the  arts,  has 
so  far  failed  to  find  a  place  in  European  art  collec- 
tions. There  is  not  one  museum  where  a  representa- 
tive selection  of  creative  photography  is  on  view  to 
the  public.  The  collection  formed  by  the  late  Pro- 
fessor Stenger  in  Germany  with  lifelong  devotion 
was  bought  by  Agfa  and  put  into  storage.  The  out- 
standing French  collection  of  nineteenth-century 
photography — the  Cromer  Collection — formed  the 

1  At  an  auction  in  Geneva  in  June  1961  Mrs  Cameron's 
portrait  of  Sir  John  Herschel  attained  the  record  price  of 
over  £300. 


nucleus  of  George  Eastman  House,  Rochester,  USA. 
The  most  important  British  collection — the  Gerns- 
heim  Collection — lies  in  packing  cases  between 
exhibitions  on  the  Continent.  All  this  is  symptomatic 
of  the  narrow  traditional  attitude  in  Europe  which 
unaccountably  ignores  photography  although  it  is 
today  the  most  important  means  of  communication 
and  documentation. 

In  the  New  World  photography  has  long  been 
recognized  as  an  independent  creative  art.  The 
Museum  of  Modern  Art,  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
the  Museum  of  the  City  of  New  York,  the  Chicago 
Art  Institute,  the  Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  in 
San  Francisco,  and  several  others  have  all  long  ago 
established  departments  of  photography.  For  half  a 
century  Americans  have  been  more  alive  than  Euro- 
peans to  all  manifestations  of  contemporary  art. 
Some  of  the  greatest  works  of  modern  art,  particu- 
larly of  the  Impressionist  and  Post-impressionist 
periods,  once  viewed  with  horror  in  the  countries  of 
their  production,  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  for  ever. 
Compare  the  riches  of  American  galleries  in  con- 
temporary and  primitive  art  with  the  pitiful  gaps  in 
European  museums.  In  Britain  the  Government 
grants  to  our  national  museums  are  woefully  inade- 
quate. Besides  being  insufficient  for  new  acquisi- 
tions, lack  of  funds  restricts  the  much-needed 
modernization  of  display,  lighting  and  air-condi- 
tioning, and  above  all  extensions  to  existing  build- 
ings. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  in  these  circum- 
stances the  idea  of  a  national  collection  of  photo- 
graphy could  command  much  attention.  Yet  the 
immense  interest  aroused  everywhere  by  our  exhibi- 
tion 'A  Century  of  Photography'  raises  the  question 
whether  photography  has  not  stood  the  test  of  time 
considerably  better  than  the  general  run  of  nine- 
teenth-century painting.  Apart  from  the  Impres- 
sionists and  Post-impressionists  and  a  dozen  or  so 
outstanding,  mainly  French  and  English,  artists  in 
the  first  three-quarters  of  the  century,  there  were 
innumerable  once-famous  or  fashionable  painters 
whose  canvases  plastered  the  walls  of  the  Paris  Salon, 
Burlington  House,  and  the  Royal  Academies  in 
other  European  capitals.  Where  are  they  now?  For- 
gotten, cast  into  limbo.  Their  pictures  are  relegated 
to  the  store-rooms  of  the  leading  art  galleries,  or  for 
lack  of  something  better  fill  the  wall-space  of  pro- 
vincial museums.  One  thing  is  certain:  a  retrospec- 


20 


7.  Weegee  (pseudonym  for  Arthur  Fellig).  Fire  at  a  New  York  tenement,  c.  1939 


tive  show  would  not  increase  our  appreciation  of 
them.  Even  Whistler's  magic  has  surprisingly  faded, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  old  favourites. 

The  intrinsic  value  of  a  work  of  art  is  largely 
subjective.  There  is  no  absolute  aesthetic  standard; 
it  is  conditioned  by  the  taste  of  each  period.  While 
Sir  John  Millais  was  making  £40,000  a  year — and 
was  duly  elected  President  of  the  Royal  Academy — 
Van  Gogh  and  Gauguin  and  Cezanne  were  strug- 
gling artists  without  recognition,  unable  to  sell  a 
picture.  Modern  opinion  of  these  artists  is  exactly  re- 
versed. Ruskin  accused  Whistler  of  'asking  200 
guineas  for  flinging  a  pot  of  paint  in  the  public's  face'. 
Today,  action  painters  literally  fling  paint  on  canvas, 


and  some  get  considerably  more  for  this  random 
daubing.  Not  so  long  ago  Expressionism  and  Cubism 
were  officially  branded  as  'decadent  art'  in  Nazi  Ger- 
many, and  considered  so  in  many  circles  elsewhere. 
Twenty-five  years  later  there  is  an  absolute  craze  for 
these  pictures,  particularly  in  the  very  country  that 
had  enforced  their  sale  abroad.  Examples  could  be 
multiplied  a  thousandfold. 

If  there  is  so  much  uncertainty  surrounding  the 
old  art  of  painting,  it  is  not  surprising  that  there  is 
still  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion  about  the  new  art 
of  photography.  Lack  of  understanding  and  appre- 
ciation have  their  origin  fundamentally  in  general 
ignorance  of  photography's  artistic  achievements. 


21 


Sargent  received  a  thousand  guineas  for  a  common- 
place group  of  officers  when  a  one  guinea  photo- 
graph would  have  been  more  apt  for  the  purpose  as 
well  as  doing  the  job  better.  Glaring  stupidities  of 
this  sort  are  not  isolated  instances,  but  we  are  no 
nearer  the  solution  proposed  by  Roger  Fry  thirty- 
five  years  ago: 

'One  day  we  may  hope  that  the  National  Portrait 
Gallery  may  be  deprived  of  so  large  a  part  of  its 
grant,  that  it  will  turn  to  foster  the  art  of  photo- 
graphy, and  will  rely  on  its  results  for  its  records, 
instead  of  buying  acres  of  canvas  covered  at  great 
expense  by  fashionable  practitioners  in  paint.'1 

A  few  significant  events  in  recent  years  point, 
however,  to  the  emergence  of  a  re-assessment. 

The  most  important  event  in  post-war  photo- 
graphy was  the  World  Exhibition  of  Photography 
held  in  Lucerne  from  May  to  August  1952.  The 
entire  art  gallery  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
chief  organizer,  Emil  Buhrer  (now  art  editor  of 
Camera),  who  succeeded  in  giving  an  exhaustive  re- 
view of  photography's  role  in  modern  civilization. 
Two  thousand  five  hundred  well-chosen  photo- 
graphs from  all  over  the  world  were  grouped  into 
sixteen  fields  of  activity  and  arranged  in  a  modern 
setting.  It  was  the  largest  photographic  show  ever 
staged,  and  the  visitor  was  immediately  gripped  by 
the  striking  demonstration  of  the  power  of  creative 
photography.  For  me,  it  was  an  experience  that  I 
have  not  felt  at  any  other  photographic  exhibition. 

Edward  Steichen  restricted  himself  to  one  theme 
in  'The  Family  of  Man'  (1955),  and  few  people  who 
have  seen  this  exhibition  can  have  remained  unmoved 
by  its  tremendous  impact.  I  have  long  felt  that  the 
usual  exhibitions  of  unrelated  photographs  that  have 
been  traditional  for  the  last  hundred  years  have  out- 

1  Virginia  Woolf  and  Roger  Fry.  Victorian  Photographs 
of  Famous  Men  and  Fair  Women,  London,  1926. 


lived  their  purpose,  except  for  one-man  shows.  At 
77,  Steichen  pioneered  a  new  kind  of  exhibition, 
that  must  be  further  developed  if  photography  is  to 
fulfil  its  most  important  function  as  a  medium  of 
communication.  The  fine  cultural  exhibitions  on 
particular  themes  arranged  by  L.  Fritz  Gruber  as 
part  of  the  various  photokina  trade  fairs  in  Cologne 
during  the  last  ten  years  have  also  made  a  significant 
contribution  in  this  field. 

In  1956  the  Louvre  made  history  by  showing  for 
the  first  time  an  exhibition  of  photographs — by 
Henri  Cartier-Bresson.  Leading  art  museums  in 
Britain,  Sweden,  Holland,  Germany,  Switzerland 
and  Italy,  which  had  up  to  a  few  years  ago  repudi- 
ated photography,  have  on  the  evidence  of  the  Art 
Council's  sponsorship,  and  convinced  by  the  artistic 
quality  of  our  collection,  opened  their  doors  to  our 
exhibition.  In  a  television  interview  in  June  1959 
Sir  Kenneth  Clark  concurred  with  the  growing 
opinion  that  photography  can  be  an  art.  The  Metro- 
politan Museum  of  Art  in  spring  1959  put  on  an 
exhibition  of  great  contemporary  photographs  with 
the  intention  of  demonstrating  photography's  place 
in  the  fine  arts.  Even  if  these  exhibitions  were  only  a 
first,  though  important,  step  in  the  direction  of  a 
serious  and  sustained  effort  for  the  widest  possible 
acceptance  of  fine  photography  as  fine  art,  they  came 
as  a  revelation  to  art  critics  and  public  alike  and  laid 
the  foundation  for  the  furtherance  of  a  better  appre- 
ciation of  photography.  It  can  only  be  a  question  of 
time  before  'great  photographs  will  find  a  permanent 
place  in  the  leading  galleries  of  the  world,  along  with 
great  paintings,  pieces  of  sculpture,  and  the  graphic 
arts'.2 

London  Helmut  gernsheim 

2  The  Saturday  Review,  16  May  1959.  The  entire  issue 
was  devoted  to  the  cause  of  photography  as  a  fine  art. 


22 


20.  D.  0.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  The  sculptor  John  Stevens  and  bust  of  Lucius  Verm.  Calotype,  1843-5 


21.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Rev.  George  Gilfillan  and  Dr  Samuel  Brown.  Calotype,  c.  1843 


As  a  landscape  painter  Hill  showed  a  preference 
for  wild  scenery  with  ancient  castles,  rugged  moun- 
tains, romantic  glens  with  waterfalls,  gnarled  trees, 
poetic  sunsets  that  were  part  and  parcel  of  the 
Romantic  movement.  Such  subjects  reflected  con- 
temporary taste,  nurtured  on  the  poems  of  Byron 
and  the  novels  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  It  is  surprising, 
therefore,  that  scenery  was  not  apparently  a  subject 
that  appealed  to  Hill  in  photography.  There  are  only 
a  few  dozen  photographic  landscapes  in  the  joint 
opus,  and  most  of  these  are  signed  by  Adamson 
alone.  Greyfriars  Churchyard,  Edinburgh,  with  its 
ivy-clad  walls  and  monumental  tombs  was,  however, 
much  favoured  as  a  picturesque  background  for 
small  groups.  A  few  of  the  portraits  and  genre  pic- 
tures are  imbued  with  a  similar  romantic  quality. 
Contrary  to  his  practice  in  painting,  Hill  never  im- 


pressed a  preconceived  style  on  photography,  but 
varied  it  according  to  the  subject. 

Sometimes  Hill  and  Adamson  took  their  camera 
to  nearby  Leith  harbour  or  the  fishing  village  of 
Newhaven.  Like  an  artist  with  sketchbook,  Hill 
seized  on  anything  that  appealed  to  his  sense  of  the 
picturesque,  each  time  superbly  interpreting  the 
mood  of  the  subject,  whether  it  were  fishing  boats, 
old  stone  cottages,  fishwives  in  their  traditional  cos- 
tume (No.  22)  or  a  group  of  sailors  in  top-hats  (No. 
23).  The  last-mentioned  picture  has  the  spontaneity 
and  unselfconsciousness  of  a  modern  reportage 
photograph,  though  of  necessity  posed,  and  shows  a 
wonderful  balance  of  light  and  dark  masses.  It  has 
the  power  of  a  Daumier  lithograph. 

The  group  of  Highlanders  at  Edinburgh  Castle 
(No.  24)  shows  a  similar  intention  to  capture  a  spon- 


36 


22.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Elizabeth  Johnstone,  the  beauty  of  Newhaven  village.  Calotype,  c. 


23.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Sailors.  Calotype,  c.  1845 


taneous  scene,  before  photography  was  technically 
capable  of  it.  The  necessary  under-exposure  caused 
the  halftones  to  be  lost,  so  that  only  a  ghostly  pattern 
of  light  and  dark  remains  which,  combined  with  the 
unsharp  outlines  and  the  fibre  of  the  paper,  resulted 
in  a  strange  impressionistic  effect.  It  is  perhaps  not 
a  coincidence  that  fifty  years  later  when  Impression- 
ism became  the  fashion  among  fin-de-siecle  photo- 
graphers, the  Hill/'Adamson  opus  was  'rediscovered' 
by  J.  Craig  Annan,  one  of  the  group. 

When  Robert  Adamson  died  early  in  1848  Hill 
returned  to  painting,  though  he  did  not  altogether 
lose  interest  in  photography.  About  i860  he  entered 
for  a  short  time  into  collaboration  with  another  Edin- 
burgh portrait  photographer,  A.  Macglashon,  but 
their  intention  to  further  'the  development  of  Fine 
Art  in  photography'  only  resulted  in  mediocre  anec- 
dotal illustrations.  The  originality  and  fine  quality  of 
the  1 840s  had  vanished. 


The  artistic  failure  of  Hill's  short  comeback  to 
photography  with  another  collaborator  may  also 
indicate  that  Adamson's  role  had  been  more  than 
that  of  a  technician,  although  Hill  used  to  exhibit 
their  pictures  at  the  Royal  Scottish  Academy  and 
elsewhere  as  'Calotype  portraits  executed  by  R. 
Adamson  under  the  artistic  direction  of  D.  O.  Hill'. 
Significantly  also,  Hill  portrayed  himself  with 
sketchbook  and  pencil  and  Adamson  with  the 
camera,  in  his  enormous  historical  painting  'The 
First  General  Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of 
Scotland',  on  which  he  worked  on  and  off  for  twenty- 
three  years.  Yet  neither  this  horribly  overcrowded 
canvas,  resembling  a  'photographic  mosaic',  nor  the 
few  quite  charming  landscape  paintings  that  have 
survived,  would  rescue  his  name  from  oblivion: 
D.  O.  Hill's  fame  rests  solely  on  the  1,500  or  so 
Calotypes  taken  during  his  4I  years'  collaboration 
with  Robert  Adamson. 


38 


24.  D.  O.  Hill  and  R.  Adamson.  Highlanders  at  Edinburgh  Castle.  Calotype,  1843-7 


Ill 


TOPOGRAPHY  AND  INTERPRETATION 


1  hotography  on  paper  was  brought  to  its  culmina- 
tion in  the  'fifties  by  Gustave  Le  Gray,  a  painter  and 
photographer.  His  waxed  paper  process  made  known 
in  December  1851  was  preferred  by  many  to  the 
Calotype  because  it  gave  much  finer  detail.  More- 
over the  paper  could  be  sensitized  several  days  in 
advance  and  the  picture  developed  several  days  after 
it  had  been  taken — important  advantages  over  the 
Talbotype,  particularly  on  excursions.  Whilst  Calo- 


type negatives  were  sometimes  waxed  on  the  back 
to  subdue  the  grainy  effect  and  speed  up  printing 
(by  making  the  paper  transparent),  in  Le  Gray's 
process  the  picture  was  taken  on  paper  already  im- 
pregnated with  wax,  which  filled  the  pores  and  gave 
it  almost  glass-like  transparency.  The  use  of  thin 
French  paper  also  contributed  to  a  much  sharper 
and  finer  image,  so  detailed  in  fact  that  a  positive 
printed  from  a  waxed  paper  negative  such  as  John 


2$.  John  Shaw  Smith.  Relief  on  a  temple  at  Thebes.  Waxed  paper,  185 1 

40 


26.  Roger  Fenton.  Domes  of  the  Cathedral  of  the  Resurrection,  the  Kremlin. 
Waxed  paper,  1852 


Shaw  Smith's  photograph  of  a  relief  on  a  temple  at 
Thebes  (No.  25)  cannot  be  distinguished  in  clarity 
from  one  printed  from  a  glass  negative. 

The  waxed  paper  process  was  particularly  favoured 
by  travellers,  and  in  the  summer  of  1852  began  a 
brief  flowering  of  photography  on  paper  before  its 
eclipse  by  photography  on  glass.  During  that  sum- 
mer Roger  Fenton,  a  painter,  solicitor  and  profes- 
sional photographer  for  eleven  years,  made  a  photo- 
graphic tour  in  Russia,  visiting  St  Petersburg,  Kiev 
and  Moscow.  The  most  outstanding  and  original 
view  of  the  series  shows  the  domes  of  the  Cathedral 
of  the  Resurrection  in  the  Kremlin  (No.  26).  Whilst 
at  that  period  most  artists  and  photographers  would 
have  taken  a  complete  view  of  the  cathedral  from 
street  level,  Fenton  sought  a  vantage  point  which 
provided  him  with  a  less  obvious  view  over-looking 
the  roofs  and  domes. 

Unlike  his  friend  D.  O.  Hill,  Dr  Thomas  Keith 
took  no  portraits,  but  concentrated  on  picturesque 


bits  of  old  F.dinburgh,  and  the  surrounding  country- 
side, during  the  few  years  he  practised  photography 
in  his  spare  time.  His  photograph  of  willow  trees 
(No.  27)  is  so  modern  that  it  might  have  been  taken 
by  the  founder  of  New  Objectivity  himself.  In  fact  it 
perfectly  stands  up  to  Albert  Renger-Patzsch's  ren- 
dering of  the  same  subject  illustrated  in  his  book 
Die  Welt  ist  Schon  (1928).  Equally  advanced  is 
Keith's  'Reflections  in  a  pond'  (No.  28).  Yet  what  a 
world  of  difference  between  this  straightforward 
rendering,  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn's  impressionistic 
interpretation  (No.  142)  and  Arno  Hammacher's 
modern  version  (No.  214). 

Apart  from  those  already  referred  to,  leading 
artistic  photographers  using  one  or  other  of  the 
paper  processes  include:  (in  France)  Edouard 
Baldus,  L.  Blanquart-Evrard,  Maxime  Du  Camp, 
Comte  F.  Flacheron  (active  in  Italy),  Henri  Le 
Secq,  Charles  Marville,  Baron  Humbert  de  Molard, 
Charles  Negre,  Eugene  Piot;  (in  Britain)  Philip  H. 


41 


27.  Dr  Thomas  Keith. 
Willow  trees.  Waxed 
paper,  c.  1854 


28.  Dr  Thomas  Keith. 
Reflections  in  a  pond 
at  Blackford  Farm 
near  Edinburgh. 
Waxed  paper,  1855 


Delamotte,  J.  Forbes- White,  Nicholaas  Henneman, 
Hugh  Owen,  William  Pumphrey,  Benjamin  Brack- 
nell Turner;  (in  Germany)  Alois  Locherer. 

The  collodion  process  on  glass  introduced  by 
Frederick  Scott  Archer  in  1851  owed  its  popularity 
not  to  any  simplification  of  technique  but  to  the  fact 
that  it  was  several  times  faster  than  the  previous 
processes.  For  the  landscape  and  architectural  photo- 
grapher the  necessity  of  transporting  the  entire  dark- 
room equipment,  glass  plates  and  chemicals  weigh- 
ing up  to  120  lb.  imppsed  a  burden  that  only  real 
enthusiasts  cared  to  undertake  (No.  29).  Even  if  the 
photographer  hired  a  man  to  act  as  porter,  or  a  cab 
for  the  transportation,  the  equipment  had  still  to  be 
carried  to  a  good  viewpoint,  and  the  dark-tent 
pitched.  The  various  preparations  before  a  picture 
could  be  taken,  and  the  necessity  of  developing  and 
fixing  it  while  the  collodion  was  still  moist,  were  so 
time-consuming  that  very  few  pictures  could  be 
taken  on  one  outing.  In  these  days  of  factory-pro- 
duced roll-films  and  plates  we  can  hardly  imagine 
the  immense  difficulties  the  photographer  of  the  wet 
collodion  period  had  to  contend  with.  Yet  these  very 
difficulties  were  indirectly  the  cause  of  the  high 
quality  of  the  pictures  produced.  Obviously  a  far 
greater  mental  effort  was  made  to  get  a  well-com- 
posed picture  of  a  worth-while  subject,  and  this 
took  shape  in  the  photographer's  mind  before  he 
even  began  to  unpack  his  equipment. 

At  that  period  educated  people  received  more  art 
instruction  than  is  usual  today,  and  any  photographer 
who  had  not, 

'if  he  be  possessed  of  a  grain  of  sense  or  perception, 
will  never  rest  until  he  has  acquainted  himself  with 
the  rules  which  are  applied  to  art  .  .  .  and  he  will 
make  it  his  constant  and  most  anxious  study  how  he 
can  apply  these  rules  to  his  own  pursuit.  .  .  .  The 
student  should  bear  in  mind  that  what  he  has  to  aim 
at  is  not  the  production  of  a  large  number  of  good 
pictures,  but  if  possible,  of  one  that  shall  satisfy  all 
the  requirements  of  his  judgment  and  taste.  That 
one  when  produced  will  be,  we  need  not  say,  of 
infinitely  greater  value  to  his  feelings  and  reputa- 
tion than  a  lane-full  of  merely  good  pictures.' 1 

Photography  is  too  cheap  and  easy  today.  With 
thirty-six  exposures  on  a  roll,  the  temptation  to  snap- 
shoot haphazardly  is  overpowering  to  the  majority  of 

1  Francis  Frith,  The  Art  of  Photography;  The  Art 
Journal)  1859,  p.  71. 


POPULARLY  PORTRAYED  WITH  PEN  k  PENCIL, 

BY    CUT  H  BERT      BEDE,  B.A. 
author  of  "Verdant  grce/O 

29.  'Cuthbert  Beds'  {Rev.  Edward  Bradley).  Title- 
page  of  'Photographic  Pleasures',  1855 

camera  users.  But  conditions  were  very  different  in 
the  nineteenth  century,  when  enlarging  was  not  prac- 
ticable. Those  who  wanted  big  pictures  to  hang  in 
exhibitions,  or  for  prints  for  sale,  had  to  take  them  on 
paper  or  glass  plates  the  required  size.  12  in.  x 
16  in.  was  nothing  out  of  the  ordinary,  and  some 
professionals  used  16  in.  /  20  in.  Under  such  condi- 
tions only  the  keenest  and  most  capable  photo- 
graphers 'survived'.  Wherever  they  carried  their 
camera,  they  had  a  purpose:  whether  the  subject 
were  the  desolate  scene  of  a  flood  (No.  30)  or  the 
grandiose  monuments  of  Rome  (No.  31),  whether 
the  icy  mountain  passes  of  the  Himalayas  or  the  hot 
sands  of  Egypt  (No.  32),  whether  they  photographed 
a  general  view  (No.  33)  or  a  close-up  of  some  wood- 


30.  James  Mudd.  Flood  at  Sheffield,  1864 


land  plant  [No.  34),  or  a  detail  of  sculpture  (No.  37), 
or  a  classical  architrave  (No.  35),  they  were  ex- 
plorers in  the  visual  field  and  not  mere  topographers. 
Their  representations  of  nature  and  architecture  are 
personal  expressions  of  men  endowed  with  artistic 
sensibility  seeking  new  forms  and  combinations  for 
pictorial  art.  If  the  photographer  is  an  artist  it  will 
show  in  his  negative  just  as  it  would  on  his  canvas 
if  he  were  a  painter.  He  interprets  the  scene  and 
communicates  to  others  the  characteristics  of  the 
view  that  have  impressed  him.  A  beauty  spot  is 
nearly  always  disappointing  in  photography;  either 
the  camera  cannot  do  justice  to  it  because  wide 
views  are  invariably  ineffective,  or  at  best  it  will 
result  in  a  conventional  picture-postcard. 

Landscape  seems  to  have  appealed  particularly  to 
the  country-loving  English,  who  right  through  the 


nineteenth  century  were  leading  in  this  field.  Some 
outstanding  names  include  Francis  Bedford,  P.  H. 
Delamotte,  William  England,  Roger  Fenton,  Francis 
Frith,  William  Grundy,  James  Robertson  (No.  36), 
Russell  Sedgfield,  James  Valentine,  G.  W.  Wilson, 
Henry  White  (No.  39).  Samuel  Bourne  established 
himself  in  India,  E.  Muybridge  in  America,  Charles 
Clifford  in  Spain  (No.  38),  MacPherson  (No.  41)  and 
Anderson  in  Rome.  The  two  last-named  are  better 
known  in  the  architectural  field. 

In  France  too  there  were  many  photographers  of 
fine  landscape  and  architectural  views,  foremost 
among  them  Edouard  Baldus,  the  Bisson  brothers, 
AdolpheBraun,C.  M.  Ferrier,  Henri  LeSecq,  Charles 
Marville,  Charles  Negre,  and  Gustave  Le  Gray, 
whose  seascapes  were  a  great  technical  feat.  Though 
a  photographer  at  Le  Havre  is  reputed  to  have  taken 


44 


31.  James  Anderson.  Base  of  Trajan's  Column,  Rome,  c.  1858 


33.  Edouard  Baldw.  Pont  du  Gard,  c.  1855 


34-  Royal  Engineers  Military  School,  Chatham  (Photographic  Department).  Study  of  plants,  c.  i860 


instantaneous  photographs  of  rolling  waves  with 
ships  sailing  and  clouds  scudding  across  the  sky  in 
1854,1  Le  Gray's  'Brig  upon  the  Water'  (1856)  (No. 
40)  caused  a  sensation  on  account  of  its  contre-jour 
effect.  The  passing  gleam  of  sunlight  on  the  water, 
produced  by  the  transit  of  a  fleecy  cloud,  aroused  the 
wonder  and  envy  of  all  photographers.  The  'moon- 
light' effect,  which  was  later  imitated  countless 
times,  was  due  to  the  necessary  under-exposure. 
Landscapes  at  that  time  were  characterized  by  a 
blank  white  sky,  and  at  first  it  was  thought  that  the 
clouds  had  been  printed  in  from  a  separate  negative, 
but  this  was  not  the  case.  Le  Gray's  success  was  due 
to  the  bright  sunlight  reflected  from  the  sea,  and 
those  who  hoped  to  photograph  clouds  over  an 
ordinary  landscape  were  disappointed,  for  the  con- 
trast between  green  grass  and  foliage,  to  which  the 

1  The  Liverpool  Photographic  Journal,  Vol.  I,  1854, 
P-  144. 


then  colour-blind  negative  material  was  not  very 
sensitive,  and  the  blue  sky,  to  which  it  was  over- 
sensitive, was  too  great.  Either  one  had  to  expose  for 
the  sky,  when  the  landscape  became  a  mere  sil- 
houette, or  if  the  exposure  were  correct  for  the 
landscape,  the  sky  became  so  dense  that  it  printed 
white.  The  impossibility  of  obtaining  a  harmonious 
combination  of  sky  and  landscape  was  a  general 
complaint  in  the  1850s  and  '60s. 

After  seeing  Le  Gray's  seascapes,  photographers 
were  no  longer  content  with  a  blank  sky.  Many  of 
them  dabbed  artificial  clouds  on  the  negatives;  others 
printed  in  clouds  from  a  separate  cloud  negative — an 
innovation  suggested  by  Hippolyte  Bayard  in  1852. 
This  interference  with  the  camera's  image  was  per- 
haps justified  for  aesthetic  reasons.  Unfortunately 
not  every  photographer  took  the  trouble  to  make  a 
cloud  negative  immediately  before  or  after  the  land- 
scape, as  Silvy  did.  Laziness  led  some  to  use  favourite 


47 


36.  James  Robertson  {attributed  to).  Malta  fortress,  c.  i860 


cloud  negatives  for  any  scene,  irrespective  of 
whether  it  suited  the  landscape,  weather,  and  light- 
ing conditions.  The  situation  became  still  more  ab- 
surd after  1880,  when  cloud  negatives  were  an 
article  of  commerce  until  the  introduction  of  ortho- 
chromatic  plates  and  light  filters  made  such  shams 
obsolete. 

A  few  excellent  architectural  and  landscape  photo- 
graphers in  other  countries  deserve  mention.  Carlo 
Ponti  in  Venice  (No.  43)  and  Luigi  Bardi  in  Florence 
depicted  tastefully  the  architectural  treasures  of  their 
districts.  Vittorio  Sella  of  Turin  specialized  in  Alpine 
views.  In  America,  William  Jackson  is  renowned  for 
recording  the  opening  up  of  the  West. 

The  influence  of  landscape  photography  upon 
painting  was  profound,  especially  in  France  where 
academic  painting  was  practically  confined  to  enorm- 
ous historical  and  allegorical  canvases.  Courbet's  one- 


man  show  entitled  'Le  Realisme',  and  consisting  of 
paintings  refused  by  the  Salon,  was  held  concur- 
rently with  the  first  big  display  of  photographs  in 
France,  at  the  International  Exhibition  of  1855. 
As  he  had  already  shown  in  'The  Stone  Breakers' 
five  years  earlier,  Courbet  was  striving  for  an  objec- 
tive, unstylized  reproduction  of  nature  based  solely 
on  observation.  In  the  first  number  of  the  magazine 
Realisme  in  July  1856  the  champions  of  the  new 
tenet  declared:  'For  us,  art  is  a  real,  existing,  visible, 
palpable  thing:  the  scrupulous  imitation  of  nature.' 
The  photographic  truism  that  'one  cannot  photo- 
graph what  one  does  not  see'  became  with  the  sub- 
stitution of  one  word  part  of  the  new  Realist  mani- 
festo: 'One  cannot  paint  what  one  does  not  see.'  For 
the  photographer,  landscape  was  a  natural  field, 
accepted  by  the  public,  but  Courbet's  aesthetic 
ideals  signified  a  break  with  academic  subject  matter. 


39.  Henry  White.  Bramble  and  ivy,  c.  1856 

5i 


40.  Gustave  Le  Gray.  'Brig  upon  the  Water',  1856 


The  strange  thing  is  that,  despite  the  fact  that  photo- 
graphers and  artists  of  the  Realist  school  had  an 
identical  approach  to  nature,  the  Realist  painters  re- 
fused to  consider  photography  as  an  art,  just  as  their 
own  works  were  denied  recognition  and  sneered  at 
as  'photographs'. 

To  Charles  Baudelaire  the  doctrine  of  copying 
nature — whether  by  photography  or  by  painting — 
was  anathema.  In  a  polemical  essay  on  the  occasion 
of  photography's  admission  to  the  Salon  of  1859,  he 
slated  it  as  'the  refuge  of  every  would-be  painter, 
every  painter  too  ill-endowed  or  too  lazy  to  complete 
his  studies.  ...  By  invading  the  territories  of  art, 
this  industry  has  become  art's  most  mortal  enemy.  If 


photography  is  allowed  to  supplement  art  in  some 
of  its  functions,  it  will  soon  have  supplanted  or  cor- 
rupted it  altogether.'1  Baudelaire  was,  however,  no 
less  disparaging  about  the  state  of  painting  at  the 
time,  attacking  in  equally  strong  terms  the  banalities 
of  the  academic  historical  painters,  and  what  he 
considered  the  trivialities  of  the  naturalist  and  realist 
painters.  Thoroughly  disgruntled,  the  poet  pro- 
claimed, 'I  consider  it  useless  and  tedious  to  repre- 
sent what  exists,  because  nothing  that  exists  satisfies 
me.  Nature  is  ugly,  and  I  prefer  monsters  of  my 
fancy  to  what  is  positively  trivial.' 

1  Charles  Baudelaire,  'The  Salon  of  1859:  The  Modern 
Public  and  Photography';  La  Revue  Francaise,  June  1859. 


52 


41.  Robert  MacPherson.  Garden  of  the  Villa  d'Este,  Tivoli, 


43.  Carlo  Ponti.  Piazza  San  Marco,  Venice,  c.  1862 

55 


IV 


A  NEW  INDUSTRY 


Whilst  landscapes,  town  views,  and  architecture 
were  taken  by  professional  and  amateur  photo- 
graphers to  an  almost  equal  extent,  studio  por- 
traiture remained  understandably  almost  exclusively 
in  the  hands  of  professionals,  as  it  does  to  this  day. 

Portraiture  by  the  wet  collodion  process  brought 
a  large  number  of  newcomers  to  the  profession, 
partly  on  account  of  the  constantly  increasing  de- 
mand for  portraits,  partly  because  collodion  por- 
traits could  be  produced  more  cheaply  than  daguer- 
reotypes. In  England  there  was  an  additional  reason: 
the  collodion  process  was  the  first  to  be  free  from 
patent  restrictions,  at  any  rate  from  the  end  of  1854. 

The  boom  in  portraiture  is  most  clearly  demon- 
strated by  a  few  statistics.  In  1851  there  were  only 
about  a  dozen  portrait  studios  in  London;  in  1855 
there  were  66;  two  years  later  155;  in  1861  over  200; 
by  1866  the  number  had  risen  to  284.  These  figures 
do  not  take  into  account  the  less  reputable  photo- 
graphers, uneducated  people  who  took  portraits  as  a 
remunerative  sideline  to  their  original  trade  or 
trades.  The  following  amusing  advertisement  of  a 
Manchester  Jack-of-all  trades  is  revealing  of  the 
new  state  of  affairs.  L.  Russell  was  probably  the 
first  to  propagate  hire-purchase  for  portraits! 
'Mr  LORENZO  HENRY  RUSSELL 
Professor  of  Singing  and  Music, 
Miniature  Painter,  Phrenologist, 
Taxidermist,  Mesmerist,  and  Photographer. 
Alexandra  Studio  (opposite  the  entrance  to 
Alexandra  Park)  and  2  Albion  Terrace, 
Harpurhey,  Manchester. 

'Mr  Russell  respectfully  announces  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Harpurhey  and  neighbourhood  that  he  has 
erected  a  first-class  Studio,  for  the  production  of  the 
best  styles  in  every  branch  of  the  art  of  Photo- 
graphy.— Mr  R.  calls  special  attention  to  his  New 


Opalotype  Portraits,  which,  for  beauty  and  delicacy 
of  detail,  are  equal  to  Ivory  Miniatures. — Wedding 
and  other  Groups  taken  at  parties'  private  resi- 
dences. Horses,  Dogs,  and  other  favourites  photo- 
graphed.— Cartes-de-Visite  from  5.?.  per  dozen 
copied  to  Life-size. — Old  Faded  Daguerreotype 
Portraits  renovated  and  restored  to  their  original 
beauty — having  had  upwards  of  thirty  years'  experi- 
ence as  an  artist.  The  state  of  the  weather  is  of  no 
importance. — Family  Residences,  Machinery,  &c. 
photographed  on  the  shortest  notice. — Families 
photographed  at  their  own  residences,  without  extra 
charge. — A  Portrait  Club,  which  enables  every  one 
to  obtain  a  correct  Portrait,  coloured  in  Oil,  in  a  gilt 
frame  complete,  and  a  dozen  Cartes-de-visite  for 
the  low  sum  of  £1  10s.,  payable  at  is.  per  week. — 

'Busses  from  High  Street  run  every  five  minutes, 
and  alights  passengers  at  the  door.— Evening  parties 
attended  for  Mesmeric  Entertainments.  Characters 
correctly  delineated. — P.S.  Birds  and  Animals  pre- 
served and  stuffed  on  the  most  approved  and 
scientific  principles. — Lessons  in  Singing,  with 
Pianoforte  accompaniment. — Picture  Frames  of 
every  description  made  to  order. — A  Respectable 
Young  Lady  or  Youth  Wanted,  as  an  Apprentice, 
Premium  required,  nevertheless. 

'Mr  R.  wishes  to  correspond  with  a  young  or 
middle  aged  Lady,  must  be  fond  of  Children  and 
Music,  with  a  view  to  Matrimony.  A  widow  Lady 
with  Children  not  objected.  He  is  49  years  of  age, 
tolerably  good  looking,  likes  a  glass  of  Beer,  and  has 
a  particular  wish  to  live  36  years  longer,  then  go 
home  and  see  his  mother,  where  he  will  sing 
God  save  the  Queen  and 
John  Brown,  the  piper.' 

Every  town  of  note,  and  even  some  villages,  soon 
had  one  or  more  photographers,  and  travelling 


56 


LIKENESSES. 

Have  no  more  bad  Portraits! 


CAUTI  ON!!! 

All  Persons  are  respectfully  cautioned  against  the  many 
Spurious  Imitators  op  tiik  Art  of  Photography,  who 
not  possessing  the  requisite  knowledge  of  Chemicals, 

CANNOT  ENSURE 

A  Correct  &  Lasting  Portrait ! ! 

The  consequence  is.  that  thousands  are  dissatisfied  with  the 
Portraits,  although  they  have  paid  High  Prices  for  them. 
This  evil  can  be  entirely  avoided  by  coming  to 

MR.  &         C.  TIMES, 

PRACTICAL  PHOTOGRAPHIC  ARTISTS, 

41,  Newington  Causeway. 

Who  are  always  at  home  to  take  portraits  ;  the  certainty  of  your  bein^ 
pleased  is.  you  arc  requested  not  to  pay  until  you  are  quite  satisfied. 

0.  TIM  MS  offers  advantages  at  his  Establishment  that  are  not  to  be  had  at  any  other 
in  London,  ami  without  ostentation  assures  Oil-  Public  that  ins  i-oaTasiTs  \an  ota- 
pa<sfd  hy  sonr,  ami  the  Prices  bespeak  his  determination  to  give  complete  satis- 
faction,." Many  \ears  experience  lias  proved  to  him  that  a  tradesman's  surcess  is 
commensurate  with  bis  honesty,  he  is  therefore  more  desirous  of  Raining  the  grad- 
ually increasing  Confidence  of  the  Public,  than  to  esclte  a  temporary  inrlux  of  Cus- 
tomers at  the  <•«  pcuv  of  Truth.  All  Portraits  ate  taken  on  the  (iround  floor,  >o 
lh.it  the  aged  arc  not  necessitated  to  ascend  flight*  of  Stairs. 

It  ii  particularly  necessary  to  observe  the  Name  ore*'  the  Door. 

SiT  C.  Timms,  41,  Newington  Causeway, 

An  immense  Stock  of  Gold  and  Bird's-eye  Maple  Frames  to  select  from, 
also  Uest  Silk  Velvet,  Kancy  Moroccu  Cases,  lockets  and  brooches  made 
Clpressly  for  portraits. 

EST-iYJlLIBllED  TWELVE  YEAKS. 

N.B.---The  Waterloo  Omnibusses  bring  you  from  the  Sta- 
tion to  the  Elephant  &  Castle,  when  there,  please 
to  enquire  for  ' '  TIMMS'," 

44.  Cheap  photographer's  advertisement,  1857 

photographic  vans  made  the  round  of  outlying  coun- 
try districts.  No  longer  was  photography  for  the 
privileged  few;  it  became  an  art  for  the  million. 

'Photographic  portraiture  is  the  best  feature  of  the 
fine  arts  for  the  million  that  the  ingenuity  of  man 
has  yet  devised.  It  has  in  this  sense  swept  away 
many  of  the  illiberal  distinctions  of  rank  and  wealth, 
so  that  the  poor  man  who  possesses  but  a  few  shil- 
lings can  command  as  perfect  a  lifelike  portrait  of 
his  wife  or  child  as  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  painted 
for  the  most  distinguished  sovereigns  of  Europe.' 1 

Unfortunately  a  great  many  opportunists  entered 
the  field,  who  looked  upon  photography  merely  as  a 
new  industry.  Most  of  them  made  ambrotypes,  a 
simple  form  of  collodion  portrait  enjoying  great 
popularity  on  account  of  its  cheapness  (No.  44). 

1  The  Photographic  News,  18  October  1861. 


In  size  (usually  3  in.  X  4  in.  or  less)  and  style  of 
framing  these  glass  positives  formed  a  substitute  for 
the  daguerreotype  (No.  46).  The  leading  establish- 
ments had  less  demand  for  ambrotypes,  but  supplied 
prints  (usually  6  in.  X  8  in.  or  8  in.  x  10  in.)  from  col- 
lodion negatives  (No.  45).  The  inconvenience  of  the 
wet-plate  process  was,  of  course,  negligible  when  the 
dark-room  was  next  to  the  studio. 

The  gradual  falling  off  in  the  demand  for  minia- 
tures since  the  introduction  of  daguerreotype  por- 
traits in  1 841  reached  its  lowest  point  in  1859,  when 
for  the  first  time  no  miniatures  were  shown  at  the 
Royal  Academy  annual  exhibition.  Even  ordinary 
portrait  painting  was  in  the  mid-fifties  'at  one  of 
the  lowest  ebbs  in  its  history'.2  This  superseding  by 
photography  of  painted  portraits  was  not  without 
evil  effects  upon  portrait  photography,  for  the  pub- 
lic, accustomed  to  flattering  portraits  from  painters, 
expected  photographers  to  conform  to  the  same 
practice.  Whilst  it  was  not  possible  to  alter  daguer- 
reotype or  ambrotype  portraits,  in  the  negative/posi- 
tive processes — Calotype,  collodion,  and  much  later 
gelatine — retouching  could  be  done.  Women  fre- 
quently complained  that  photographs  made  them 
look  plain  and  older,  and  the  photographer  now 
found  himself  in  the  same  dilemma  as  the  portrait 
painter  before  him.  Few  had  the  moral  courage  and 
financial  independence  to  follow  their  artistic  con- 
science. Whilst  it  is  quite  legitimate  to  minimize  the 
sitter's  shortcomings  by  skilful  posing  and  lighting, 
actual  beautifying  can  only  be  done  by  drawing  on 
the  negative  or  print,  and  in  doing  so  the  photo- 
grapher leaves  his  proper  domain  of  drawing  by 
light  and  becomes  that  undesirable  hybrid,  the 
painter-photographer. 

The  ease  with  which  anyone  with  a  little  skill 
could  add  points  of  beauty  or  remove  defects  pre- 
sented a  dangerous  temptation  to  photographers  to 
flatter  the  sitter.  It  is  strange  that  many  people's  idea 
of  attractiveness  can  only  be  fulfilled  by  obliterating 
everything  that  is  characteristic.  In  the  late  1850s  re- 
touching and  beautifying  were  carried  to  such  ex- 
tremes that  some  photographic  societies  stipulated 
that  in  the  case  of  touched-up  photographs  the 
negative  must  be  shown  alongside  the  print  in  their 
exhibitions. 

'The  colorist',  ran  one  instruction,  'may  correct 
with  his  brush  defects  which,  if  allowed  to  remain, 
*  David  Piper,  The  English  Face,  London,  1957. 


45-  C.  Schwartz.  Christian  Ranch,  1852 

spoil  any  picture.  For  instance,  where  a  head  is  so 
irregular  in  form  as  to  become  unsightly,  soften 
those  features  which  are  the  most  strikingly  de- 
formed, and  reduce  the  head  to  a  greater  semblance 
of  beauty.  Try  to  discover  what  good  points  there 
are — for  all  heads  have  some  good  points — and  give 
these  their  full  value.' 1 

1  The  Photographic  News,  3  June  1859,  p.  149. 


The  average  photographer  would  try  to  make  his 
sitter's  features  conform  to  the  Victorian  ideal  of 
beauty. 

(For  women.)  'A  handsome  face  is  of  an  oval  shape, 
both  front  view  and  in  profile.  The  nose  slightly 
prominent  in  the  centre,  with  small,  well-rounded 
end,  fine  nostrils:  small,  full,  projecting  lips,  the 
upper  one  short  and  curved  upwards  in  the  centre, 
the  lower  one  slightly  hanging  down  in  the  centre, 
both  turned  up  a  little  at  the  corners,  and  receding 
inside;  chin  round  and  small;  very  small,  low  cheek- 
bones, not  perceptibly  rising  above  the  general 
rotundity.  Eyes  large,  inclined  upwards  at  the  inner 
angles,  downwards  at  outer  angles;  upper  eyelids 
long,  sloping  beyond  the  white  of  the  eye  towards  the 
temples.  Eyebrows  arched,  forehead  round,  smooth 
and  small;  hair  rather  profuse.  Of  all  things,  do  not 
draw  the  hair  over  the  forehead  if  well  formed,  but 
rather  up  and  away.  See  the  Venus  de  Medici,  and 
for  comparison  see  also  Canova's  Venus,  in  which 
latter  the  hair  is  too  broad.' 

(For  men.  )  'An  intellectual  head  has  the  forehead 
and  chin  projecting,  the  high  facial  angle  presenting 
nearly  a  straight  line;  bottom  lip  projecting  a  little; 
eyebrows  rather  near  together  and  low  (raised  eye- 
brows indicate  weakness).  Broad  forehead,  over- 
hanging eyelids,  sometimes  cutting  across  the  iris  to 
the  pupil.'- 

As  to  the  most  important  part — at  that  period — of 
the  female  figure,  the  waist,  one  instruction  inter- 
preted retouching  rather  generously:  'The  retoucher 
may  slice  off,  or  curve  the  lady's  waist  after  his  own 
idea  of  shape  and  form  and  size.' 
2  loc.  cit. 


58 


46.  Ambrotype  of  an  old  gentleman,  c.  1857 

59 


V 


IMMORTAL  PORTRAITS 


The  front  rank  photographers  did  not  stoop  to 
flattery  by  retouching.  Many  avoided  the  difficulty 
by  refusing  to  photograph  women  and  concentrating 
on  famous  men.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
from  these  photographic  portraits  we  receive  a  far 
truer  and  more  intimate  impression  of  those  who 
left  their  mark  on  the  last  century  than  from  painted 
portraits,  particularly  since  the  majority  of  these  are 
only  enlarged  and  coloured  copies  of  photographs. 
Those  fortunate  enough  to  portray  famous  con- 


47.  Nadar.  George  Sand,  1S65 


temporaries  inevitably  get  all  the  limelight,  and  it 
should  not  be  forgotten  that  many  photographers 
whose  names  are  unknown  took  no  less  excellent 
portraits  (for  example,  No.  46).  The  photograph  of 
I.  K.  Brunei  (No.  49),  the  great  civil  engineer, 
standing  in  front  of  the  launching  chains  of  the 
Great  Eastern,  is  an  unforgettable  portrait  that  has 
the  quality  of  a  modern  reportage  shot.  Robert 
Howlett  brought  out  the  determination  of  the  man, 
who  was  beset  by  one  difficulty  after  another  in  the 


48.  Maull  and  Polyblank.  Michael  Faraday,  F.R.S., 
c.  1856.  (Faraday  is  holding  a  piece  of  optical  glass  in 
an  iron  container,  used  to  demonstrate  magnetic  rotatory 
polarization  of  light) 


60 


Robert  H owlet t.  Isambard  Kingdom  Brunei,  1857 


50.  Nadar.  Baron  Taylor,  c.  1865 

62 


51.  Etienne  Carjal.  Rossini,  c.  1865 


63 


launching  of  this  leviathan,  the  largest  steamship  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Equally  impressive  is  a  series 
of  portraits  of  distinguished  men  taken  at  the  same 
period  by  Maull  &  Polyblank  (No.  48),  Thomas 
Annan,  and  many  others. 

The  caricaturist's  ability  quickly  to  seize  upon  the 
essential  characteristics  of  his  sitter  was  an  asset  to 
Nadar  and  Car j  at,  the  two  great  French  photo- 
graphers, in  immortalizing  the  famous.  Following 
the  tradition  of  the  dagucrreotypists,  their  portraits 
are  simple  and  realistic,  yet  far  more  forceful  and 
striking  in  their  intellectual  power. 

Nadar,  who  was  equally  famous  as  an  intrepid 
aeronaut,  had  of  necessity  to  leave  the  general  run  of 
portraiture  to  assistants,  reserving  to  himself  the 
most  distinguished  sitters,  many  of  whom  were  his 
personal  friends.  He  might  be  called  the  photo- 
grapher of  the  Second  Empire  and  the  Third  Re- 
public; only,  being  an  ardent  republican,  Nadar 
shunned  any  connection  with  the  imperial  family 
and  the  court.  Indeed,  in  his  crowded  lithograph 
'Le  Pantheon  Nadar'  published  in  1854,  he  gave 
vent  to  his  anti-royalist  feelings.  The  last  figure  in 
the  queue  of  celebrities,  in  the  likeness  of  the 
Emperor,  is  being  kicked  out  of  the  picture. 

Nadar's  studio  in  the  Boulevard  des  Capucines 
was  the  meeting-place  of  intellectuals,  not  society. 
With  very  few  exceptions  he  refused  to  photograph 
women,  on  the  grounds  that  they  were  'too  beautiful 
to  serve  my  art' — but  this  was  only  an  excuse.  To  his 
friend  George  Sand  (No.  47),  whose  novels  moved 
with  the  spirit  of  the  time  from  romantic  passion  to 
socialism,  Nadar  dedicated  one  of  his  many  books, 
Quand  j'etais  etudiant.  Gustave  Flaubert,  who 
found  photography  a  pictorial  equivalent  to  his 
literary  realism;  Baudelaire  who  hated  photography; 
Alexandre  Dumas,  Victor  Hugo,  Sainte-Beuve, 
Champfleury,  Baron  Taylor  (No.  50);  Rossini,  Ber- 
lioz, Meyerbeer,  Wagner,  Liszt,  Gounod;  Gustave 
Dorc,  Delacroix,  Daumier,  Millet,  and  the  Impres- 
sionists, are  only  a  few  of  the  famous  men  to  sit  to 
Nadar.  The  only  one,  in  fact,  to  refuse  was  Balzac, 
who  feared  that  the  camera  might  steal  his  soul:  had 
not  Nadar  already  stolen  Gounod's  eyes  in  his  daring 
close-up?  'The  good  giant',  as  Leon  Daudet  called 
him,  had  a  gift  for  friendship,  and  his  kindness  was 
remembered  long  afterwards  by  Monet,  who  re- 
called Nadar's  generous  and  typical  gesture  in  lend- 
ing his  studio  (from  which  he  had  just  moved)  to  the 


Impressionists  for  their  first  exhibition  in  April/May 
1874.  By  nature  a  revolutionary  (his  house  was 
painted  bright  red),  Nadar  was  not  at  all  put  out  by 
the  uproar  the  exhibition  caused  in  the  art  world: 

Etienne  Carjat  had  a  photographic  studio  for  about 
twenty  years,  from  1855  onward.  Not  striving  for 
worldly  success,  and  without  assistants,  his  output 
was  small  compared  with  Nadar's,  who  was  active  as 
a  photographer  for  about  thirty-four  years.  Some 
famous  men  sat  to  both  photographers  and  though 
Carjat  was  overshadowed  by  the  publicity-minded 
Nadar,  many  of  his  portraits — Rossini  (No.  51)  and 
Baudelaire,  for  example — seem  to  go  deeper  in 
characterization.  The  publication  of  Galerie  Con- 
temporaine  made  a  large  number  of  outstanding  por- 
traits of  great  Frenchmen  available  to  the  public  at  a 
low  price  and  provides  the  best  source  to  study  the 
work  of  these  and  other  leading  Parisian  portrait 
photographers  of  the  1860s  and  '70s:  Adam-Salomon, 
Bertall,  Fontaine,  Franck,  Klary,  Mulnier  and  Pierre 
Petit. 

A.  S.  Adam-Salomon  was  considered  by  his 
numerous  admirers  the  premier  portrait  photo- 
grapher in  France.  A  successful  sculptor  of  portrait 
busts,  he  devoted  only  two  hours  a  day  to  photo- 
graphy. Critics  praised  the  effect  of  relief  and 
modelling  in  his  photographs,  which  they  ascribed 
to  the  sculptor's  experience  in  lighting  the  sitter. 
But  I  think  they  imagined  it;  frankly  I  fail  to  discern 
a  greater  plastic  effect  in  Adam-Salomon's  portraits 
than  in  Nadar's  and  Carjat's.  In  modelling  with 
light  Julia  Margaret  Cameron  showed  a  mastery 
that  remained  unmatched. 

Adam-Salomon's  mannerism  of  draping  the  sitter 
in  velvet,  posing  him  in  the  style  of  Rembrandt, 
Van  Dyck  or  other  Old  Masters,  appealed  to  people 
who  failed  to  appreciate  the  camera's  different, 
straightforward  approach,  and  believed  that  by  this 
kind  of  affectation  photography  became  art.  The 
poet  Lamartine,  who  had  hitherto  despised  photo- 
graphy as  'a  plagiary  of  nature  by  optics',  was  com- 
pletely converted  by  Adam-Salomon's  portraits. 
'We  no  longer  say  photography  is  a  craft,  it  is  an  art; 
it  is  better  than  an  art,  it  is  a  solar  phenomenon  in 
which  the  artist  collaborates  with  the  sun.'1  This 
last  statement  was  literally  true,  for  Adam-Salomon 

'  A.  dc  Lamartine,  Cours  familiar  de  Litterature,  Vol.  vii, 
p.  43,  Paris,  1859. 


52,  Melandri.  Sarah  Bernhardt  with  her  self-portrait  bust,  c.  1876 
E 


53-  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Ellen  Terry,  1864 


made  liberal  use  of  the  brush  on  his  negatives.  He 
had  taken  lessons  from  Erwin  Hanfstaengl,  who 
introduced  negative  retouching  at  the  International 
Exhibition  in  Paris,  1855. 

The  changed  outlook  today  calls  for  a  re-assess- 
ment of  Adam-Salomon's  work.  His  portraits  fail  to 
come  alive;  there  is  no  attempt  at  characterization. 
Many  of  them  do  not  even  rise  above  the  average 
carte-de-visite  level,  through  over-reliance  on  studio 
properties,  which  have  a  tendency  to  reduce  the 
sitter  to  a  figure  in  a  composition  instead  of  making 
him  the  composition  itself.  When  Melandri  photo- 
graphed Sarah  Bernhardt  in  her  own  studio  before 
the  bust  she  modelled  of  herself  {No.  52)  there  was  a 
purpose  in  the  staff  age.  His  is  a  brilliant  exploitation 
of  an  historic  moment,  in  the  way  Howlett's  portrait 
of  Brunei  is. 


Julia  Margaret  Cameron  deplored  the  shallowness 
and  lack  of  individuality  in  the  professional  por- 
traits of  her  famous  friends.  They  lacked  any  at- 
tempt at  characterization,  there  was  no  endeavour  to 
record  what  she  called  'the  greatness  of  the  inner  as 
well  as  the  features  of  the  outer  man'.  This  feeling 
became  a  resolve  when  she  was  presented  with  a 
photographic  outfit  in  1863.  Characteristically  Mrs 
Cameron  threw  herself  into  this  new  occupation 
with  enthusiasm  and  ambition.  Photography  was 
far  more  to  her  than  a  pastime;  at  last  at  the  age  of 
48  she  felt  she  had  found  her  true  purpose  in  life. 
Here  was  a  means  by  which  she  could  create  beauty 
like  her  many  artist  friends,  and  for  her,  photography 
became  a  'divine  art'. 

Self-taught,  Mrs  Cameron  had  perhaps  too  little 
regard  for  technical  perfection,  but  her  artistic  con- 


66 


54.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Sir  Henry  Taylor,  1867 


ception  was  far  above  that  of  most  contemporary 
professional  photographers.  Working  for  her  own 
satisfaction  and  not  for  a  living,  Mrs  Cameron  could 
afford  to  go  her  own  way,  and  became  a  pioneer  in  a 
new  kind  of  portraiture — the  close-up.  Influenced 
at  first  by  David  Wilkie  Wynfield,  a  painter  and 
amateur  photographer  whose  costumed  half-length 
portraits  of  well-known  artists  she  admired,  Mrs 
Cameron  soon  developed  her  own  style  and  so  far 
surpassed  her  model  that  only  a  superficial  resem- 
blance exists  between  their  work.  Mrs  Cameron  dis- 
dained grandiose  effects.  Her  large  head  studies 
(usually  12  in.  x  16  in.)  did  not  need  elaboration  by 
meaningless  accessories,  and  the  intellectual  force  of 
her  sitters  comes  out  so  much  the  stronger. 

In  order  to  cut  down  exposures  to  the  minimum, 
most  professional  portrait  photographers  let  the 
light  stream  into  their  glasshouse  from  all  sides,  and 
this  diffusion  of  light  accounts  for  the  flatness  of  the 
majority  of  their  portraits.  Mrs  Cameron,  on  the 
other  hand,  shut  out  most  of  the  light  by  curtains 
and  directed  it  to  model  the  features  and  to  em- 
phasize the  characteristics  of  the  sitter,  but  she  never 
let  her  posing  or  lighting  become  a  mannerism.  On 
the  contrary,  her  striving  to  express  individuality 
constantly  set  her  fresh  problems,  in  the  handling  of 
which  she  eventually  developed  a  mastery  that  sets 
her  work  apart  from  that  of  other  photographers.  At 
exhibitions  Mrs  Cameron's  photographs  always 
aroused  vehement  discussion.  Such  work  had  never 
been  seen  before.  Photographers  on  the  whole  did 
not  take  kindly  to  it,  but  some  of  the  most  famous 
artists  and  writers  of  the  day  were  exceedingly 
enthusiastic  in  their  praise. 

A  member  of  intellectual  society,  Mrs  Cameron 
had  many  opportunities  of  meeting  the  eminent  dur- 
ing the  twelve  years  of  her  photographic  activity, 
and  they  were  pressed  into  her  service,  sometimes  by 
persuasion,  sometimes  coerced  into  submission.  Her 
portraits  of  Tennyson,  Browning,  Longfellow,  Car- 
lyle,  Trollope,  Herschel,  Darwin,  Watts,  Ellen 
Terry  (No.  53),  Sir  Henry  Taylor  (No.  54)  and  many 


others  have  won  a  lasting  place  in  the  history  of  an 
era.  They  are  the  works  of  a  great  personality — the 
most  vigorous  and  expressive  documents  we  have  of 
the  great  Victorians,  for  Mrs  Cameron  had  the  real 
artist's  gift  of  piercing  through  the  outward  struc- 
ture to  the  soul  of  the  individual.  Although  the  im- 
pressiveness  of  her  portraits  may  owe  something  to 
the  personality  of  the  sitter — and  this  remark  applies 
generally  to  portraits  of  famous  people — her  large 
head  studies  have  a  boldness  which  fills  us  with 
admiration  and  astonishment.  They  are  startling  in 
their  originality  of  conception,  and  reveal  such 
artistic  feeling  and  depth  of  human  understanding 
that  they  are  in  every  case  superior  to  the  painted 
portraits  of  the  same  sitters  by  leading  artists  of  the 
time.  To  Roger  Fry  it  was  evident  that  'Mrs 
Cameron's  photographs  already  bid  fair  to  outlive 
most  of  the  works  of  the  artists  who  were  her  con- 
temporaries',1 and  the  same  is  true  of  the  por- 
traits of  Hill  and  Adamson,  and  indeed  of  a  great 
many  other  good  portrait  photographers  of  the 
present  as  well  as  of  the  last  century. 

Our  greatest  contemporary  representative  of  studio 
portraiture  in  the  classical  tradition  is  Yousuf  Karsh 
of  Ottawa.  His  famous  wartime  portrait  of  Sir 
Winston  Churchill  will,  I  am  convinced,  outlive  all 
other  representations  of  the  great  man  in  any 
medium,  for  the  simple  reason  that  it  is  more 
characteristic  of  him  than  any  other  portrait  I  know. 
And  I  should  know,  for  no  fewer  than  80,000  por- 
traits of  Churchill  passed  through  my  hands  when 
I  was  compiling  my  pictorial  biography  of  him. 

What  I  have  said  about  Karsh's  photograph  of 
Churchill  applies  equally  to  his  fine  studies  of  G.B.S. 
and  other  prominent  men  whom  he  photographed 
during  the  war  for  the  Canadian  Government. 
Karsh's  'Faces  of  Destiny'  are  full  of  vitality,  and 
free  from  the  mannerisms  and  over-glamourized 
effects  he  deemed  necessary  for  smaller  fry. 

1  Virginia  Woolf  and  Roger  Fry,  Victorian  Photographs 
cf  Famous  Men  ami  Fair  Women,  London,  1926. 


68 


VI 


THE  PHOTOGRAPHER  AS  STAGE  MANAGER 


The  good  professional  portraitists  had  to  face  heavy 
competition  from  the  cheap  carte-de-visite  which  be- 
came the  rage  in  Paris  in  1859  and  rapidly  spread 
throughout  Europe  and  America. 

Realizing  that  the  usual  charge  of  50  to  100  francs 
(£2  to  £4)  for  a  single  10  in.  x  8  in.  portrait  was  too 
high  for  the  general  public,  A.  E.  Disderi,  one  of  the 
new  cheap  traders  in  photography,  hit  upon  a  bril- 
liant idea  to  reduce  prices  and  thereby  bring  photo- 
graphy within  reach  of  the  multitude.  In  his  patent 
of  1854  Disderi  described  a  method  of  taking  ten 
photographs  on  one  glass  plate  'so  that  all  the  time 
and  expense  necessary  to  obtain  one  print  from  the 
negative  are  divided  by  ten,  which  reduces  to  very 
little  the  price  of  each  of  these  ten  prints'.  In  prac- 
tice, by  means  of  a  special  camera  with  four  lenses 
and  a  moving  plate-holder,  eight  (not  ten)  photo- 
graphs were  taken  on  one  negative  (No.  55).  The 
resulting  contact  print  was  cut  up  into  the  individual 
portraits,  which  were  then  mounted  on  pasteboard 
the  size  of  a  visiting  card.  An  additional  saving  in 
production  cost  was  achieved  because  in  these  small 
pictures,  usually  of  the  full-length  figure,  the  sitter's 
head  was  so  small  that  retouching  could  be  dispensed 
with.  By  this  mass-production  method  Disderi  could 
offer  a  dozen  cartes-de-visite  for  20  francs,  thus  tre- 
mendously undercutting  all  the  other  photographers. 

The  new  format  did  not  catch  on  until  Napoleon 
III  made  it  fashionable.  In  May  1859,  riding  at  the 
head  of  the  army  corps  departing  for  Italy,  he 
halted  his  troops  on  a  sudden  whim  at  Disderi's 
studio  and  had  his  portrait  taken.  This  rather  ludi- 
crous incident  was  the  best  publicity  Disderi  could 
wish  for.  He  found  himself  famous  overnight.  The 
whole  of  Paris  followed  the  Emperor's  example,  and 


so  great  was  the  demand  that  appointments  had  to  be 
booked  weeks  in  advance.  Henceforth,  the  imperial 
family  were  often  photographed  by  Disderi,  who 
was  appointed  court  photographer  (No,  56).  As  ex- 
pected he  was  compensated  a  thousandfold  for  the 
smaller  amount  received  from  each  client,  by  the 
much  larger  number  of  sitters.  The  middle  and  lower 
middle  class  could  now  afford  to  have  their  portraits 
taken  in  the  same  elegant  and  luxurious  surround- 
ings as  the  nobility  and  gentry. 

A  few  photographers  found  the  mass-production 
of  cartes  distasteful  and  retired;  the  majority  had  no 
choice  but  to  follow  Disderi's  example. 

Not  only  in  its  small  size,  but  also  in  the  aesthetic 
sense,  the  carte  started  a  new  style  in  photography. 
In  the  degree  to  which  the  portrait  itself  was  re- 
duced in  size,  its  setting  increased  in  importance. 
The  photographer's  studio  became  a  stage  with 
interchangeable  properties  and  backgrounds  in 
which  the  sitter  was  merely  a  figure  in  a  landscape 
or  drawing  room. 

Carte  pictures  of  women  were  often  in  the  nature 
of  a  small  fashion-plate.  The  sitter  was  usually  repre- 
sented full  length  to  show  off  her  crinoline,  and  as  in 
all  fashion-plates,  head  and  body  were  only  pegs  on 
which  to  hang  clothes.  Facial  expression  was  of 
minor  importance,  since  only  a  tiny  representation 
of  the  head  appeared  in  the  picture,  and  all  the  skill 
and  flattery  of  the  photographer  was  directed  to- 
wards the  arrangement  of  the  pose,  and  his  elegant 
interior  decoration. 

At  first  the  background  was  usually  the  classical 
column  with  curtain  drawn  back  to  reveal  a  land- 
scape— an  elegant  framework  which  had  served 
painters  of  royalty  and  the  aristocracy  from  Van 


69 


55.  Disde'ri.  Uncut  sheet  of  eight  carte-de-visite  portraits  of  Princess  Buonaparte-Gabriele,  c.  1862 


Dyck  to  Winterhalter.  Society  photographers  like 
Camille  Silvy  managed  their  decorative  arrangements 
very  tastefully.  Silvy,  'the  Winterhalter  of  photo- 
graphy', frequently  designed  painted  backgrounds 
specially  to  suit  a  particular  sitter  (No.  57):  a  view  of 
St  Paul's  Cathedral  for  the  Dean,  the  Wellington 
Arch  for  the  Duchess  of  Wellington,  a  view  of 
Buckingham  Palace  for  the  Princess  Royal,  a  grand 
staircase  for  Lady  Leicester,  a  wild  Scottish  glen  for 
Lady  Airlie.  An  oriel  window  and  a  Gothic  chair 
seemed  just  right  for  a  bishop,  and  so  did  a  library 
for  an  author. 

Photographers  with  less  taste,  or  giving  way  to 
every  whim  of  their  clients,  sometimes  produced  re- 
markably ludicrous  effects:  a  country  squire  posing 


with  his  gun  and  a  dead  hare,  an  animal-lover  hold- 
ing her  dog's  paw,  children  and  even  men  sitting 
monkey-like  on  top  of  columns,  and  Queen  Victoria 
holding  an  open  umbrella  indoors. 

People  were  frequently  depicted  in  positions  and 
surroundings  totally  different  from  those  in  which 
their  friends  knew  them.  But  a  magnificent  effect  was 
exactly  what  was  wanted  in  this  ostentatious  period 
when  people  strove  to  appear  above  their  station.The 
humbler  the  home,  the  stronger  the  desire  for  splen- 
dour; and  the  grander  the  studio,  the  more  business 
a  photographer  could  expect  to  do. 

Certain  sixteenth-century  paintings  show  a  similar 
incongruity  of  middle-class  sitters  in  palatial  decors 
or  with  obviously  unsuitable  accessories.  Paulo 


70 


Lomazzo  complains  in  his  'Treatise  on  the  Arts  of 
Painting,  Sculpture  and  Architecture'  (1585)  that  it 
has  become  the  practice  to  represent  merchants  and 
money-changers  whom  one  only  knew  in  business 
coat,  with  a  pen  behind  their  ear,  in  a  grandiose  pose 
holding  a  marshal's  baton.  Some  of  the  Dutch  mer- 
chants painted  by  Frans  Hals  are  pompously  posed 
in  aristocratic  attire  in  front  of  imaginary  palatial 
backgrounds.  So  this  was  after  all  only  a  pictorial 
revival  of  the  age-old  desire  to  appear  more  import- 
ant than  one  really  is. 

The  fact  that  most  studio  properties  were  sup- 
plied by  a  few  wholesalers  reduced  the  chances  of 
individuality.  Seavey's  backgrounds  and  accessories 
imported  from  New  York  catered  for  every  taste. 
Screens  painted  with  interiors,  landscapes  and  sea- 
scapes, were  offered  in  great  variety.  Balustrades  and 
staircases  in  French  Renaissance  style  were  adver- 
tised as  'accessories  for  the  most  fastidious',  whilst 


56.  Disderi.  Napoleon  III,  the  Empress  Eugenie 
and  the  Prince  Imperial,  1859-60 


rock-walls,  stiles,  rustic  bridges,  cottage  and  oriel 
windows,  trees  and  rocks,  were  guaranteed  modelled 
direct  from  nature. 

Smedley  &  Co.  of  Blackburn  supplied  a  very 
popular  background,  'The  Conservatory  and  Palm- 
house  showing  palatial  entrance  to  drawing  room, 
one  end  draped  with  curtain,  opposite  side  Gothic 
window'.  They  also  offered  a  remarkable  selection 
of  chairs  and  settees,  carved  and  upholstered, 
painted  and  inlaid,  in  hybrid  styles  which  will  one 
day  puzzle  antique  dealers,  for  none  has  ever  been 
seen  or  heard  of  outside  photographic  studios. 

Photographers  who  specialized  in  military  cartes 
had  a  rampart,  with  gun  and  cannon  balls,  or  a  dis- 
tant castle  with  storming  party.  For  portraying  naval 
personnel,  £7  would  buy  the  deck  of  a  steamship, 
wheel,  cannon,  funnel,  bulwarks  and  all;  or  for  less 
than  half  that  sum  the  photographer  could  buy  a 
ship's  mast  complete  with  rigging.  The  nautical 


57.  Camille  Silvy.  The  Countess  of  Caledon,  c.  1862 


71 


craze  began  in  1869  when  a  Winchester  photo- 
grapher advertised:  'W.  Savage  has  a  large  pool  of 
water,  on  which  is  a  beautiful  pair-oared  boat,  backed 
by  immense  gnarled  roots  of  trees,  planted  with 
ferns  and  their  allies  [sic],  which  will  form  most  in- 
teresting pictures'.  Photographers  without  a  garden 
did  not  allow  themselves  to  be  outdone:  a  boat  was 
introduced  into  the  studio,  together  with  papier- 
mache  rocks. 

Each  decade  in  the  carte,  and  later  Cabinet,  period 
was  typified  by  some  fashionable  accessory.  In  the 
'sixties  the  balustrade,  column  and  curtain  were 
ubiquitous.  In  the  'seventies  rustic  bridges  and  stiles 
were  popular;  in  the  'eighties  came  the  hammock  and 
swing  (for  ladies),  and  on  the  Continent  the  railway 
carriage  (first-class,  of  course)  was  discovered  as  a 
setting.  The  naughty  'nineties  went  exotic  with  palm- 
trees  and  cockatoos,  and  for  the  New  Woman  there 
was  the  bicycle.  When  motoring  became  an  aristo- 
cratic sport,  a  real  motor-car  in  the  studio  had  an 


At  Alexander  Bassano's  studio  in  Old  Bond  Street 
the  sitter  could  choose  a  background  from  a  large 
variety  painted  on  a  roll  80  ft.  long.  This  background 
cloth,  containing  indoor  and  outdoor  scenes  suitable 
for  all  reasons  of  the  year,  was  mounted  on  rollers 
like  a  moving  panorama.  For  a  lady  in  furs  a  winter 
scene  was  unrolled,  and  paper  'snow'  sprinkled  on 
her  added  a  touch  of  'reality'. 

The  palm  for  photographic  scenery  must,  how- 
ever, be  handed  to  William  Notman,  famous  for  his 
studies  of  Canadian  life  taken  in  his  Montreal  studio. 
Sledge  and  hunting  parties  were  so  expertly  arranged 
that  the  unwary  are  completely  deceived.  Trees, 
logs,  and  rocks  were  brought  into  the  studio,  and 
tents,  camp-fires,  (stuffed)  deer  and  bears  arranged 
so  that  the  armed  trappers  waiting  for  their  kill 
seemed  genuinely  on  the  trail  (No.  58).  Salt  made  a 
convincing  substitute  for  snow. 

Thus  the  general  run  of  photographers  were  con- 
stantly searching  for  novelties  in  presentation  to  attract 
new  clients  and  obtain  fresh  sittings  from  old  ones. 


58.  William  Notman.  Bear  hunt  (posed  in  studio),  1867 


72 


VII 


'FINE   ART'  PHOTOGRAPHY 


Most  early  photographs  have  a  direct  approach  that 
particularly  appeals  to  us  today.  In  the  first  fifteen 
years  or  so  of  photography  only  one  attempt  was 
made  to  deviate  from  the  recording  of  reality  which 
is  its  true  function.  The  earliest  exponent  of  'Fine 
Art'  or  composition  photography  was  John  Edwin 
Mayall,  an  American  daguerreotypist  who  settled  in 
London  in  1846.  At  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851 
Mayall  showed  a  series  of  ten  daguerreotypes  illus- 
trating the  Lord's  Prayer  which  he  had  taken  in 
Philadelphia  six  years  earlier.  Apparently  they  have 
not  survived,  but  the  following  extract  from  MayalPs 
brochure  conveys  an  idea  of  the  sentimentality  and 
tastelessness  of  these  compositions. 

'These  are  the  first  efforts  in  developing  the  new 
branch  of  photographic  fine  art.  .  .  .  Female  figures 
(some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  talented  ladies  of 
Philadelphia)  have  been  chosen  to  embody  the  pre- 
cepts of  this  Divine  Prayer.  "Our  Father  Which  Art 
in  Heaven" — the  illustration  is  a  Lady  on  her  knees 
before  the  Altar,  her  eyes  directed  to  the  Catholic 
emblem  of  the  Redeemer,  the  Saviour  on  the  Cross; 
the  pure  expression  of  humility  and  penitence  in  the 
countenance  and  attitude,  finely  embodies  the  open- 
ing sentiment  of  the  prayer  .  .  .  "Give  us  this  Day 
our  Daily  Bread" — a  way-worn  Pilgrim,  with  staff  in 
hand,  weary  with  fatigue,  is  receiving  two  loaves 
from  the  hands  of  a  beautiful  child.'1 

Mayall  also  showed  at  the  Crystal  Palace  other 
'Daguerreotype  pictures  to  illustrate  poetry  and 
sentiment':  a  set  of  six  daguerreotypes  taken  in  1848 
illustrating  Thomas  Campbell's  poem  'The  Soldier's 
Dream',  and  'The  Venerable  Bede  blessing  an 
Anglo-Saxon  Child'.  In  some  of  them,  the  landscape 

1  J.  E.  Mayall,  Daguerreotype  Institution,  London,  1848. 


or  background  was  painted  in  with  a  fine  brush;  in 
others,  the  models  had  been  posed  in  front  of 
painted  scenery  'to  make  the  whole  harmonize  to- 
gether'. The  Athenaeum,  which  was  full  of  praise  for 
Mayall's  portraits,  cautioned  its  readers  concerning 
his  assertion  that  the  daguerreotype  was  capable  of 
illustrating  legends.  'It  seems  to  us  a  mistake.  At 
best,  he  can  only  hope  to  get  a  mere  naturalistic 
rendering.  Ideality  is  unattainable — and  imagination 
supplanted  by  the  presence  of  fact.'  Mayall  perhaps 
recognized  the  validity  of  this  criticism,  for  apart 
from  a  24  in.  x  15  in.  'Bacchus  and  Ariadne'  he 
abandoned  this  hybrid  art-photography,  in  spite  of 
Prince  Albert's  encouragement. 

After  the  defeat  of  Talbot's  claim  to  Scott 
Archer's  collodion  process  in  December  1854  and 
the  lapse  of  his  Calotype  patent,  the  number  of 
photographers,  both  amateur  and  professional, 
greatly  increased,  and  with  the  foundation  of  photo- 
graphic societies  in  the  'fifties,  the  ambition  to  com- 
pete with  one  another  in  exhibitions  naturally  fol- 
lowed. Up  to  that  time,  photography  had  been 
chiefly  valued  for  its  usefulness  to  artists,  and  for  its 
various  practical  applications.  Few  people  can  have 
thought  of  it  as  an  independent  art  medium;  the  pub- 
lic in  general  knew  only  daguerreotype  portraits,  and 
were  inclined  to  consider  these  small  portraits  as 
productions  of  industry  rather  than  as  pictures  ap- 
pealing to  the  aesthetic  sense.  It  was  not  until  the 
Great  Exhibition  that  the  public  could  gain  any 
idea  of  the  achievements  of  photography  in  other 
fields  than  portraiture,  and  in  particular  in  other 
countries. 

Whilst  the  Great  Exhibition  aroused  much  interest 
in  the  new  art,  the  first  exhibition  entirely  devoted  to 


73 


photography,  held  at  the  (Royal)  Society  of  Arts  in 
London  in  December  1852-January  1853,  made  a 
deep  impression  both  by  its  size  (over  800  photo- 
graphs) and  by  the  quality  of  the  photographs  shown. 
Daguerreotypes  were  entirely  absent,  and  the  visitor 
saw  large  paper  prints,  which  had  an  appeal  as 
pictures. 

Nearly  twice  the  number  of  photographs  was 
shown  at  the  first  exhibition  of  the  Photographic 
Society  of  London  (now  the  Royal  Photographic 
Society  of  Great  Britain)  which  was  founded  in 
January  1853.  The  fact  that  no  less  a  person  than  the 
President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  Sir  Charles  East- 
lake  (soon  to  become  also  Director  of  the  National 
Gallery),  had  accepted  the  position  of  President  of 
the  Photographic  Society,  and  that  Queen  Victoria 
and  Prince  Albert  had  become  its  patrons,  conferred 
upon  photography  a  new  status  in  the  art  world. 

Owing  to  the  circumstance  that  many  men  famous 
in  art  or  science  were  either  council  or  ordinary 
members,  it  was  thought  desirable  to  define  the  two 
aspects  of  photography.  This  task  fell  to  the  Vice- 
President,  Sir  William  J.  Newton,  R.A.,  who  at  the 
Society's  first  meeting  on  3  February  1853  rose  to 
discourse  'Upon  photography  in  an  artistic  view  and 
its  relations  to  the  arts:  with  a  view  to  establish  that 
photography  can  only  be  considered  as  a  science  to 
those  who  investigate  its  properties,  but  that  to  the 
public  its  results,  as  depicting  natural  objects,  ought 
to  be  in  accordance  (as  far  as  possible)  with  the 
acknowledged  principles  of  Fine  Art'.  Unfortunately 
Newton's  admirable  though  lengthy  definition  went 
no  further  than  the  title  of  his  paper.  He  simply 
gave  an  exposition  of  the  aspect  nearest  his  heart: 
the  usefulness  of  photography  to  the  painter.  It  had 
been  pointed  out,  he  said,  that  'a  photograph  should 
always  remain  as  represented  in  the  camera',  but  he 
was  'desirous  of  removing  such  false  and  limited 
views'  and  propounded  the  controversial  opinion 
that  negatives  might  be  altered  'in  order  to  render 
them  more  like  works  of  art'.  In  fact,  any  means 
were  justified  to  attain  that  end,  whether  by  a 
chemical  or  other  process.  Newton  also  recom- 
mended that  'the  whole  subject  might  be  a  little  out 
of  focus,  thereby  giving  a  greater  breadth  of  effect,  and 
consequently  more  suggestive  of  the  true  character 
of  Nature'.1 

A  storm  of  protest  caused  Newton  to  explain 
1  The  Photographic  Journal,  3  March  1853. 


59.  John  Leighton.  Self-portrait,  aged  30.  Calotype, 
1853 

later  that  his  remarks  were  only  intended  for  artists, 
in  the  expectation  that  'by  the  united  exertions  of 
the  arts  and  sciences  . . .  photography  may  be  applied 
in  a  variety  of  ways  not  yet  contemplated'.  Yet  the 
feeling  gained  ground  that  he  had  laid  down  the 
ideals  for  artistic  photography,  and  his  opinions  had 
far-reaching  repercussions.  John  Leighton  and  other 
artists  who  had  joined  the  Society  supported  New- 
ton's heretical  views,  for  they  found  photographs 
'too  literal  to  compete  with  works  of  art'.  Considering 
themselves  followers  of  Reynolds'  style,  they  desired 
broad  effects,  not  detail,  in  photographs  (No.  59). 
Artistic  photographs,  Leighton  recommended,  'may 
be  out  of  focus,  the  distance  fading  away,  the  fore- 
ground indistinct,  trees  appearing  in  masses  and 
figures  obscured  by  shadows'.  For  admirers  of  the 
Pre-Raphaelite  School  it  must  have  come  as  a  shock 
to  learn  'Art  cannot  rival  Nature,  and  should  not  at- 
tempt to  compete  with  her.  The  marvellous  detail 
of  microscopic  photographs  defies  human  imitation; 
but  these  are  not  works  of  art.  Only  in  the  lowest 
walks  of  art  is  direct  imitation  attempted.'2 

2  John  Leighton,  The  Photographic  Journal,  21  June 
1853. 


74 


6o.  William  Lake  Price.  'Don  Quixote  in  his  Study',  1855 


To  avert  the  danger  of  the  controversy  he  had 
started  getting  out  of  hand,  Sir  William  Newton  tried 
to  bridge  the  ever-widening  rift  with  the  liberal 
statement:  'Photography  is  a  wide  field;  each  may 
take  from  it  what  he  requires;  he  is  not  bound  or 
tied  down  to  any  rule  that  I  know  of;  let  every 
photographer  take  his  own  course,  by  which  means 
photography  will  be  improved  and  Art  considerably 
advanced.' 

Apart  from  Newton's  influence,  the  blame  for  the 
perversion  of  photography  rests  to  a  large  extent 
with  critics,  who  had  hitherto  reviewed  art  exhibi- 
tions and  were  now  also  assigned  to  cover  photo- 
graphic exhibitions.  Before  long  they  found  the  con- 


stant repetition  of  portraits,  views  and  still-lifes 
monotonous.  These  were,  however,  the  only  subjects 
possible  with  the  large  cameras  and  rather  slow 
negative  material  then  available.  Deprecating  the 
lack  of  imaginative  subjects,  critics  pompously 
urged  photographers  to  strive  for  loftier  themes 
which  would  'instruct,  purify  and  ennoble',  and  to 
compose  pictures  worthy  of  being  considered  in  the 
same  class  as  paintings. 

'Photography  is  an  enormous  stride  forward  in 
the  region  of  art.  The  old  world  was  well-nigh  ex- 
hausted with  its  wearisome  mothers  and  children 
called  Madonnas;  its  everlasting  dead  bodies  called 
Entombments;  its  wearisome  nudities  called  Nymphs 


75 


and  Venuses;  its  endless  porters  called  Marses  and 
Vulcans;  its  dead  Christianity  and  its  deader  Pagan- 
ism. Here  was  a  world  with  the  soil  fainting  and  ex- 
hausted; worn  by  man  into  barrenness,  over- 
crowded, over-housed,  over-taxed,  over-known. 
Then  all  at  once  breaks  a  small  light  in  the  far  West, 
and  a  new  world  slowly  widens  to  our  sight — new 
sky,  new  earth,  new  flowers,  a  very  heaven  com- 
pared with  the  old  earth.  Here  is  room  for  man  and 
beast  for  centuries  to  come,  fresh  pastures,  virgin 
earth,  untouched  forests;  here  is  land  never  trodden 
but  by  the  angels  on  the  day  of  Creation.  This  new 
land  is  photography,  Art's  youngest  and  fairest  child; 
no  rival  of  the  old  family,  no  struggler  for  worn-out 
birthrights,  but  heir  to  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth,  found  by  itself,  and  to  be  left  to  its  own  chil- 
dren. For  photography  there  are  new  secrets  to  con- 
quer, new  difficulties  to  overcome,  new  Madonnas 
to  invent,  new  ideals  to  imagine.  There  will  be  per- 
haps photograph  Raphaels,  photograph  Titians, 
founders  of  new  empires,  and  not  subverters  of  the 
old." 

Artists  and  photographers  alike  were  advised  to 
combine  photographic  realism  with  the  idealism  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance  masters.  Yet  attempts  to  illus- 
trate scenes  from  literature,  drama,  and  history,  or 
allegorical  subjects,  by  a  medium  whose  chief  con- 
tribution to  art  lies  in  actuality,  inevitably  result  in 
incongruous  effects. 

'There  is  a  terrible  truthfulness  about  photo- 
graphy that  sometimes  makes  a  thing  ridiculous', 
warned  G.  Bernard  Shaw,  himself  a  keen  amateur  at 
a  later  period.  'Take  the  case  of  the  ordinary 
academician.  He  gets  hold  of  a  pretty  model,  he  puts 
a  dress  on  her,  and  he  paints  her  as  well  as  he  can, 
and  calls  her  "Juliet",  and  puts  a  nice  verse  from 
Shakespeare  underneath,  and  puts  the  picture  in  the 
Gallery.  It  is  admired  beyond  measure.  The  photo- 
grapher finds  the  same  pretty  girl;  he  dresses  her  up 
and  photographs  her,  and  calls  her  "Juliet",  but 
somehow  it  is  no  good — it  is  still  Miss  Wilkins,  the 
model.  It  is  too  true  to  be  Juliet. '- 

It  was  a  most  unfortunate  circumstance  both  for 
art  and  for  photography  that  up  to  World  War  I  the 

1  The  Photographic  Journal,  21  February  1857,  p.  217. 
Attributed  to  Joseph  Durham,  ARA,  a  member  of  the 
Photographic  Society. 

2  G.  B.  Shaw,  lecture  on  'Photography  in  its  Relation 
to  Modern  Art'  at  the  Photographic  Salon,  18  October 
1909. 


public,  artists,  and  art  critics  alike  were  inclined  to 
judge  painting  by  photography — in  its  capacity  for 
rendering  detail — and  photography  by  painting — 
in  the  sphere  of  imaginative  composition.  This  con- 
fusion about  the  aims  of  photography  and  painting 
led  to  shocking  errors  of  taste  in  both  media,  and  the 
good  that  each  might  have  derived  from  the  other 
was  lost  to  both. 

The  idea  of  elevating  photography  to  the  regions 
of  Fine  Art  attracted  chiefly  former  painters  who 
found  it  easier  to  make  a  living  with  the  camera  than 
with  the  brush.  In  1855  William  Lake  Price,  a  water- 
colour  artist,  astonished  the  world  of  art  and  photo- 
graphy with  his  'Don  Quixote  in  his  Study'  (No. 
60),  'The  Baron's  Feast'  and  other  compositions  in 
the  chivalric  style  of  George  Cattermole  and  other 
academic  painters  of  the  day.  Most  people  agreed 
that  this  was  picture-making  by  photography,  though 
few  realized  the  literal  truth  of  their  verdict,  for  some 
of  these  elaborate  compositions  were  actually  pieced 
together  from  several  negatives.  Lake  Price  followed 
up  these  successes  with  a  series  of  photographs  illus- 
trating the  adventures  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  'A  Scene 
at  the  Tower'  (1856)  (representing  the  deposed  boy- 
King  Edward  V  and  his  brother,  who  were  murdered 
at  the  instigation  of  Richard  III)  was  much  admired 
by  Lewis  Carroll,  who  had  just  taken  up  photography 
as  a  hobby.  He  entered  in  his  diary,  'This  is  a  very 
beautiful  historical  picture — a  capital  idea  for  making 
up  pictures.'  The  Literary  Gazette,  on  the  other  hand, 
rightly  considered  the  attempt  to  emulate  the  his- 
torical painter  a  mistake. 

Oscar  Gustave  Rejlander  was  a  portrait  painter 
and  copyist  of  Old  Masters  before  he  became  a  pro- 
fessional photographer.  Once  in  a  lively  discussion 
with  a  painter  on  whether  or  not  photography  were 
an  art,  the  latter  argued  that  it  would  never  succeed 
in  producing  pictures  like  Raphael's.  Instead  of 
explaining  that  religious  subjects  are  unsuitable  for 
photography,  Rejlander  was  spurred  on  to  convince 
his  friend  of  his  capability  by  producing  a  photo- 
graphic version  of  the  Sistine  Madonna.  I  do  not 
know  to  what  extent  he  succeeded,  but  the  cherubs 
(No.  61) — one  of  the  studies  for  his  Ersatz-Raphael 
— were  eulogized  as  'testing  Raphael  by  nature  and 
beating  him  hollow!'3  The  Literary  Gazette  pointed 
out  that  'We  admire  a  Madonna  by  Raphael  not 

3  'The  Atelier  of  the  Sun';  The  Irish  Metropolitan 
Magazine,  Vol.  ii,  Dublin,  1858. 


76 


because  he  has  faithfully  copied  a  woman  and  child 
in  a  certain  position,  but  because  we  see  in  its  depth 
and  purity  of  feeling  a  noble  realization  of  an  original 
and  poetic  idea.  A  photograph  of  the  models  Raphael 
used  in  the  positions  he  placed  them,  and  surrounded 
by  all  the  accessories  he  introduced,  would  no  doubt 
form  a  valuable  study  for  a  painter,  but  it  would  be 
a  sorry  substitute  for  his  picture.  What  gives  his  pic- 
ture all  its  value  is  that  which  he  added  to  its  models, 
and  not  what  he  found  in  them.' 

Unfavourable  criticisms  were  few,  however.  Lake 
Price,  Rejlander  and  others  were  convinced  that  they 
were  ennobling  photography,  and  Prince  Albert 
extended  his  patronage  by  placing  standing  orders 
for  their  exhibition  prints. 

Rejlander  set  out  to  rescue  photography  from  the 
reproach,  often  made  by  its  critics,  that  it  was  a 
mechanical  art,  and  the  big  Manchester  Art 
Treasures  Exhibition  of  1857  was  the  immediate 
raison  d'etre  of  'The  Two  Ways  of  Life' — the  most 
ambitious  allegorical  photograph  ever  made.  For  the 
first  time,  photographs  were  to  be  displayed  along- 
side paintings,  drawings,  sculpture,  and  engravings, 
and  Rejlander  wanted  to  create  a  picture  worthy  of 
the  place  accorded  to  photography.  'The  Two  Ways 
of  Life'  bears  a  certain  resemblance  to  Thomas 
Couture's  'Les  Romains  de  la  Decadence'  (1847)  in 
the  Louvre,  but  the  similarity  of  the  compositions 
probably  lies  in  their  authors'  inspiration  by  the 
Italian  Renaissance:  Couture  by  Veronese,  Rejlander 
by  Raphael.  Raphael  in  'The  School  of  Athens'  con- 
trasted Philosophy  and  Science;  Rejlander's  'Two 
Ways'  are  Industry  and  Dissipation. 

The  picture  was  a  sensation  at  the  Art  Treasures 
Exhibition,  partly  because  it  had  never  been  thought 
possible  to  produce  such  a  painterly  composition  by 
photography,  and  partly  on  account  of  the  semi- 
nudity  of  some  of  the  models.  It  was  the  first  time  in 
England  that  nudes  depicted  by  the  realistic  medium 
of  photography  were  shown  in  public,  and  some 
prudish  people  objected  to  this  as  'indelicate',  al- 
though the  seal  of  royal  approval  was  set  on  the  pic- 
ture (No.  62)  by  Queen  Victoria's  purchase  of  it, 
deeply  impressed  by  its  moral  content. 

Two  youths  on  the  threshold  of  life  are  brought 
from  the  country  (indicated  in  the  far  distance)  to  the 
city  by  a  philosopher.  The  one  on  his  right  cannot 
resist  the  temptations  of  a  life  of  idleness  and  dissi- 
pation, and  rushes  eagerly  into  the  pleasures  of  lust, 


61.  O.  G.  Rejlander.  Composition  after  a  detail  in 
Raphael's  Sistine  Madonna,  c.  1856 


drinking  and  gambling,  that  lead  to  despair.  His 
wiser  brother  chooses  the  path  of  industry,  education 
and  good  works.  The  partly  nude  veiled  woman  in 
the  centre  represents  Penitence,  turning  from  the 
evil  way  of  life  to  the  good. 

At  that  time  it  was  technically  impossible  to  photo- 
graph a  large  group  of  people  in  difficult  poses  in 
one  rather  long  exposure,  for  one  or  other  of  the 
models  would  certainly  have  moved  and  spoiled  the 
picture.  Rejlander  took  over  thirty  separate  negatives 
of  the  various  figures  and  parts  of  the  background, 
and  printed  them  skilfully  on  to  two  joined  sheets  of 
paper,  as  none  was  made  large  enough  for  the  com- 
plete picture  measuring  31  in.  x  16  in.  The  produc- 
tion of  the  picture  took  Rejlander  and  his  wife  over 
six  weeks. 

'My  ambition  has  been  that  this  composition 
should  be  solely  photographic',  Rejlander  explained, 
'and  I  think  that  as  far  as  the  conception  of  a  pic- 
ture, the  composition  thereof,  with  the  various  ex- 
pressions and  postures  of  the  figures,  the  arrange- 


77 


62.  O.  G.  Rejlander.  'The  Two  Ways  of  Life'  (size  31  in.  by  16  in.),  1857 


ment  of  draperies  and  costume,  the  distribution  of 
light  and  shade  and  the  preserving  it  in  one  sub- 
ordinate whole — that  these  various  points,  which  are 
essential  in  the  production  of  a  perfect  picture,  re- 
quire the  same  operations  of  mind,  the  same  artistic 
treatment  and  careful  manipulation,  whether  it  be 
executed  in  crayon,  paint,  or  by  photographic 
agency.'1 

Today  "The  Two  Ways  of  Life'  strikes  us  as  an 
absurdity,  but  a  painted  picture  of  this  subject  would 
be  equally  unacceptable  to  modern  taste. 

Those  of  Rejlander's  contemporaries  who  ap- 
proved of  his  'masterpiece'  considered  it  'the  sym- 
bol of  a  new  era  in  photography'.  His  detractors 
objected  to  it  not  on  the  ground  that  it  depicted  an 
allegory  photographically,  but  rather  on  account  of 
the  technique  of  combining  a  number  of  negatives  in 
one  composite  photograph.  Above  all,  it  was  the 
semi-nudity  of  some  of  the  models  that  brought 
forth  the  strongest  protests.  It  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand why  the  Victorians  were  so  shocked  at  these 
discreetly  draped  figures;  yet  the  intention  of  ex- 
hibiting the  picture  at  the  Photographic  Society  of 
Scotland  nearly  resulted  in  its  disruption.  This  dis- 
aster was  averted  at  the  eleventh  hour  by  a  typically 

1  The  Photographic  Journal,  21  April  1858,  p.  192. 


British  compromise:  the  respectable  half  of  the  pic- 
ture, Industry,  was  shown  alone! 

Rejlander  followed  up  'The  Two  Ways  of  Life' 
with  a  few  other  composite  pictures,  though  nothing 
on  so  large  a  scale  nor  of  so  controversial  a  nature. 
'Judith  and  Holofernes',  'The  Head  of  St  John  the 
Baptist'  and  'Home,  Sweet  Home'  are  a  few  of  the 
titles.  Then  in  January  1859  he  wrote  to  H.  P. 
Robinson,  a  rising  star  in  the  field  of  picture-making 
by  photography,  'I  am  tired  of  photography-for-the- 
public,  particularly  composite  photos,  for  there  can 
be  no  gain  and  there  is  no  honour,  only  cavil  and 
misrepresentation.  The  next  exhibition  must  only 
contain  ivy'd  ruins  and  landscapes  for  ever — besides 
portraits.' 

Ceasing  to  build  up  composite  photographs  from 
more  than  one  negative  did  not  mean  giving  up  com- 
position photography:  on  the  contrary,  Rejlander  de- 
lighted in  anecdotal  and  genre  pictures,  and  in  mak- 
ing studies  for  artists  to  paint  from.  The  time  in- 
volved in  arranging  symbolical,  allegorical,  biblical 
and  classical  figure  studies  for  artists,  plus  the 
model's  fee,  was  often  worth  more  than  he  earned 
for  these  photographs,  but  they  provided  a  welcome 
relaxation  from  commercial  portraiture.  His  artistic 
feeling  despised  a  business-like  attitude  to  photo- 


graphy,  as  it  also  revolted  against  photographing 
clients  whose  faces  he  disliked.  Portraits  by  Rejlander 
are  therefore  comparatively  rare,  whereas  his  sur- 
viving opus  includes  numerous  figure  studies,  both 
draped  and  nude. 

Henry  Peach  Robinson  was  the  most  influential 
of  all  the  art-photographers.  In  his  youth  he  was  an 
amateur  painter  and  like  Fenton,  Lake  Price,  Rej- 
lander and  some  other  photographers,  exhibited  at 
the  Royal  Academy.  Making  his  living  by  stereo- 
typed carte-de-visite  portraits,  art  photography 
offered  a  way  of  enhancing  his  prestige,  and  that  of 
photography,  by  demonstrating  the  falseness  of  the 
view  prevalent  among  artists  that  'a  photograph 
could  have  no  influence  on  the  feelings  and  on  the 
emotions,  that  it  had  no  soul'.  Robinson's  first  com- 
position, 'Fading  Away'  (No.  63),  exhibited  in  1858, 
was  admittedly  'calculated  to  excite  painful  emo- 
tions', and  he  fully  succeeded  in  his  intention. 
Whereas  'The  Two  Ways  of  Life'  was  objected  to  by 
some  people  for  'appealing  to  the  passions',  'Fading 
Away',  which  depicted  a  'dying'  girl  surrounded  by 
her  grieving  mother,  sister  and  fiance,  was  criticized 


for  its  'morbid  sentiment'.  But  no  one  found  fault 
with  the  artificiality  of  the  photograph  as  such,  for 
after  all  the  whole  thing  was  staged,  and  made  up 
from  five  negatives.  'Fading  Away'  enjoyed  enorm- 
ous success  in  exhibitions  and  this  encouraged 
Robinson  henceforth  to  produce  every  year  one  or 
more  elaborate  compositions  for  the  annual  exhibi- 
tion of  the  Photographic  Society.  The  result  was  un- 
fortunate for  photography,  since  Robinson's  exhibi- 
tion pictures  were  contrived,  and  the  praise  and 
awards  accorded  to  them,  not  only  in  England  but 
also  on  the  Continent  and  in  America,  led  to  a  craze 
for  artificial  picture-making,  from  which  photo- 
graphic salons  all  over  the  world  have  hardly 
recovered. 

'The  Lady  of  Shalott'  (1861)  (No.  64),  a  bold  at- 
tempt to  illustrate  Tennyson's  romantic  poem,  owes 
more  to  Millais'  'Ophelia'  than  to  the  Poet  Laureate. 
This  imaginative  picture,  made  up  from  two  nega- 
tives, is  'very  Pre-Raphaelite,  very  weird,  and  very 
untrue  to  nature'.  Robinson  himself  condemned  it 
many  years  later  as  'a  ghastly  mistake  to  attempt  such 
a  subject  in  our  realistic  art,  and  with  the  exception 


63.  H.  P.  Robinson.  'Fading  Away',  1858 


79 


of  an  "Ophelia"  done  in  a  moment  of  aberration,  I 
never  afterwards  went  for  themes  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  life  of  our  day'.1  Yet  whilst  this  deliberately 
artificial  picture  succeeds  in  conveying  something  of 
the  romantic  spirit  of  Tennyson's  poem,  Robinson's 
favourite  rural  subjects,  which  usually  include  pro- 
fessional models  dressed  up  as  village  maidens  in 
smocks  and  sunbonnets  (because  he  found  genuine 
country  peqple  too  clumsy),  strive  after  naturalism 
and  fail  completely.  It  seems  hardly  credible  that 
contemporary  critics  were  deceived  by  the  'genuine- 
ness' of  these  rustic  scenes.  'Mr  Robinson  avoids  all 
appearance  of  trick,  and  all  theatrical  effect,  by 
never  troubling  the  costumier,  or  "dressing"  his 
figures.  They  are  presented  in  the  homely  garb  of 
actual  life  which  seems  to  befit  them  as  naturally  as 
the  leaves  belong  to  the  trees.'2 

In  contrast  to  Rejlander's  purely  photographic 
technique,  in  which  the  figures  were  printed  direct  on 
to  the  sensitive  paper,  Robinson's  picture-making 
was  a  scissors  and  paste-pot  photo-montage  job.  His 

'  The  Practical  Photographer,  Bradford,  March  1897. 
-  The  Photographic  Journal,  15  December  1863. 


procedure,  quite  contrary  to  the  aesthetics  of  photo- 
graphy, was  to  build  up  the  picture  in  stages.  After 
making  a  preliminary  sketch  of  the  composition  he 
photographed  individual  figures  (No.  65),  then  cut 
them  out  and  pasted  them  on  the  separately  photo- 
graphed foreground  and  background.  After  careful 
retouching  of  the  outlines  so  that  no  joins  remained 
visible,  the  whole  picture  was  rephotographed  for 
the  final  version. 

In  'The  Lady  of  Shalott'  the  chance  of  seizing  a 
windless  day  that  would  not  cause  the  boat  to  drift 
was  remote.  So  Robinson  took  the  landscape,  and  the 
boat  with  the  model,  separately,  the  latter  probably 
in  the  garden  behind  his  studio.  Twenty  years  later, 
when  the  much  faster  gelatine  dry  plates  were  begin- 
ning to  supplant  wet  collodion.  Robinson  laid  down 
the  axiom  that  no  photograph  that  could  be  obtained 
in  a  single  exposure  should  be  produced  from  several 
negatives,  and  that  combination  printing  should  be 
reserved  for  effects  that  could  not  be  obtained  other- 
wise (such  as  'Dawn  and  Sunset').  However,  picture- 
making  by  photography  had  become  such  an  obses- 
sion with  him  by  then  that  even  'Carrolling'  (1887) 


65.  H.  P.  Robinson.  Preliminary  sketch  with  photograph  inserted,  c.  i860 


— two  girls  and  a  flock  of  sheep  in  a  summer  land- 
scape— is  a  photo-montage.  It  is  a  picture  that  could 
easily  have  been  taken  instantaneously  at  that  date, 
but  separate  studies  for  it  in  our  collection  prove  it  to 
have  been  a  premeditated  composition,  in  which  the 
figures  were  printed  into  the  landscape. 

'Dawn  and  Sunset'  (1885)  (No.  66),  made  up  from 
six  negatives,  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  Robinson's  skill 
in  photo-montage.  It  could  be  argued  that  it  was 
technically  impossible  to  make  this  ambitious  pic- 
ture, measuring  29J,  in.  ;<2I  in.,  without  resorting  to 
photo-montage,  but  I  feel  that  this  is  no  justification 
for  going  beyond  the  limitations  of  photography.  The 
great  contrast  between  the  dark  cottage  interior  and 
the  light  streaming  in  through  the  window  (at  a  time 
when  plates  were  not  backed  against  halation)  neces- 
sitated combination  printing,  and  Robinson  achieved 
a  perfectly  harmonious  effect;  no  one  would  suspect 

F 


that  the  picture  was  not  taken  in  a  straightforward 
way.  Despite  a  strong  resemblance  between  this  and 
other  compositions  to  certain  paintings  by  Josef 
Israels  and  the  Diisseldorf  School,  Robinson  was 
not  influenced  by  any  particular  artist.  Similarity  in 
subject  matter  is  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  time. 

A  prolific  writer,  Robinson  contributed  articles 
on  pictorial  photography  to  practically  every  photo- 
graphic journal  in  the  English  language.  In  addition 
he  published  a  number  of  books  expounding  his 
theories,  of  which  Pictorial  Effect  in  Photography 
(1869)  and  Picture  Making  by  Photography  (1884)  are 
the  best  known,  appearing  in  edition  after  edition, 
the  latter  as  late  as  1916.  Both  books  were  translated 
into  French  and  German,  and  studied  wherever  pic- 
torialists  were  at  work.  Robinson's  prestige  was 
enormous  and  the  harm  done  by  his  teaching 
incalculable. 


66.  H.  P.  Robinson.  'Dawn  and  Sunsef,  1885  (siz-:  29.^  in.  by  21  in.) 


Roger  Fenton,  who  had  also  been  an  exhibitor  at 
the  Royal  Academy  in  his  youth,  urged  members  of 
the  Photographic  Society  not  to  make  up  pictures 
artificially  but  to  photograph  direct  from  nature. 
Nothing  shows  better  the  sincerity  of  his  advice 
than  his  fine  landscapes  and  photographs  of  English 
cathedrals,  and  above  all  his  famous  reportage  of  the 
Crimean  War.  Yet  influenced  by  the  taste  of  the 
period,  Fenton  was  occasionally  tempted  to  portray 
by  photography  anecdotal  subjects  like  'The  Con- 
fessional', as  he  had  earlier  in  painting.  In  contrast 
to  contemporary  critics,  who  bestowed  unstinting 
praise  on  these  compositions  when  shown  at  the 
Photographic  Society's  exhibition  in  1859,  today  we 
regard  Fenton's  'Nubian  Water-carrier'  and  'Egyp- 
tian Dancing-girl'  as  failures,  because  the  English 
models  betray  by  their  selfconsciousness  that  the 
Eastern  costume  and  attitudes  are  alien  to  them. 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron's  splendid  close-ups  of 
the  great  Victorians  constitute  unfortunately  only  a 
small  proportion  of  her  total  opus  during  the  twelve 
years  she  devoted  to  photography.  Her  fine  art  com- 


positions seem  unbearably  pretentious,  ludicrous, 
and  amateurish,  and  must  on  the  whole  be  con- 
demned as  failures  from  the  aesthetic  point  of  view. 
Yet  they  reminded  the  critic  of  the  Art  Journal  of 
'Caravaggio,  Tintoretto,  Giorgione,  Velasquez  and 
other  princes  of  their  art.  The  aggroupments  and 
figures  are  so  skilfully  arranged  that  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  what  they  could  gain  by  being  painted.'1 
Another  art  critic  called  Mrs  Cameron's  allegorical 
compositions  'Faith',  'Hope'  and  'Charity',  'the 
nearest  approach  to  art,  or  rather,  the  most  bold 
and  successful  application  of  the  principles  of  fine  art 
to  photography'.2 

No  other  photographer  in  the  nineteenth  century 
and  only  one  in  the  twentieth  (Henri  Carder- 
Bresson)  has  won  such  general  acclamation  from  art 
critics  and  leading  artists  as  Julia  Margaret  Cameron. 
George  Frederick  Watts,  considered  by  his  con- 
temporaries as  the  nineteenth-century  Titian  (whom 
he  incidentally  strongly  resembled  in  appearance) 

1  The  Art  Journal,  February  1868. 

■  The  Illustrated  London  News,  May  1865. 


82 


67.  Detail  of  66 


68.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Florence,  1872.  In- 
scribed by  G.  F.  Watts:  7  wish  I  could  paint  such  a 
picture  as  this' 


(No.  136),  believed  'her  work  will  satisfy  posterity 
that  there  lived  in  1866  an  artist  as  great  as  Venice 
knew',1  and  beneath  one  of  Mrs  Cameron's  photo- 
graphs of  Florence  Fisher  he  wrote:  'I  wish  I  could 
paint  such  a  picture  as  this'.  It  is  typical  that  Watts's 
enthusiasm  was  aroused  by  the  more  fanciful  picture 
of  the  two  (No.  68).  Present-day  taste  would  un- 
questionably choose  the  straightforward  portrait 
(No.  69)  as  being  the  stronger.  It  is  in  fact  one  of 
Mrs  Cameron's  finest  photographs. 

The  photographic  press  was  too  preoccupied  with 
technique  to  appreciate  the  aesthetic  qualities  of  Mrs 
Cameron's  portraits,  and  they  were  no  less  reluctant 
to  accept  her  fancy  compositions.  'The  Committee 
much  regret  that  they  cannot  concur  in  the  lavish 
praise  which  has  been  bestowed  on  her  productions 
by  the  non-photographic  press,  feeling  convinced 
that  she  will  herself  adopt  an  entirely  different  mode 

1  Marie  A.  Belloc,  'The  Art  of  Photography';  The 
Woman  at  Home,  Vol.  viii,  1897. 


of  representing  her  poetic  ideas  when  she  has  made 
herself  acquainted  with  the  capabilities  of  the  art'.2 
Some  of  the  wisecracks  made  in  the  photographic 
press  are  not  without  justification.  'In  the  two  pic- 
tures of  "The  Wise  and  the  Foolish  Virgins"  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  which  are  the  "Wise"  and 
which  are  the  "Foolish",  the  same  models  being 
employed  for,  and  looking  equally  foolish  in,  both 
pictures.'3 

The  unstinted  admiration  from  art  circles,  and 
above  all  Watts's  praise,  naturally  led  Mrs  Cameron 
to  over-estimate  her  powers  and  to  create  preten- 
tious compositions  rivalling  paintings.  Watts's  in- 
sistence on  the  importance  of  imaginative  composi- 
tions, which  he  placed  on  a  higher  plane  than 
portraiture,  instilled  in  Mrs  Cameron  the  idea  that 
the  noblest  forms  of  art  were  symbolical,  allegorical, 
literary,  and  religious  subjects  which  'uplifted  the 
mind  to  higher  spheres  of  devotion  and  contempla- 
tion'. Like  her  mentor,  Mrs  Cameron  devoted  her 
life  to  the  beautiful.  Like  him,  she  was  filled  with 
admiration  for  the  Italian  Old  Masters;  hence  her 
many  Madonna  studies  and  other  compositions  'in 
the  manner  of  Perugino,  Raphael,  Michelangelo, 
Leonardo,  etc. 

Active  in  the  mid- Victorian  period,  Mrs  Cameron 
could  not  help  being  influenced  by  the  Zeitgeist  and 
by  the  Pre-Raphaelite  painters.  Victorian  sentimen- 
tality is  strongly  evident  in  such  compositions  as 
'Pray  God,  bring  Father  safely  home'  and  'Seventy 
years  ago,  my  darling,  seventy  years  ago'.  They  are 
examples  of  Victorian  story-telling  at  its  worst,  akin 
to  the  academic  narrative  painting  of  the  period. 
Any  affinity  of  her  work  with  that  of  the  Pre- 
Raphaelites  lies  in  sentiment  and  subject  matter — 
for  Mrs  Cameron  did  not  share  their  devotion  to 
meticulous  detail,  preferring  broad  effects.  Occa- 
sionally she  borrowed  an  idea  from  a  painting  by  her 
nephew  Val  Prinsep  (a  follower  of  Rossetti),  Arthur 
Hughes,  or  some  other  contemporary  artist.  The 
study  of  her  niece  May  Prinsep  (No.  70)  (later  the 
wife  of  the  second  Lord  Tennyson)  bears,  for  in- 
stance, a  close  resemblance  to  the  pose  of  Milly  Jones 
in  Whistler's  'Symphony  in  White  No.  3'  painted 
three  years  earlier,  except  that  the  direction  of  the 
pose  is  reversed.  Of  course,  nobody  saw  any  objec- 

'-  Report  of  the  exhibition  committee,  The  Photographic 
Journal,  15  May  1865. 

3  The  Photographic  Journal,  1 5  August  1865. 


69.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  Florence^  1872  {another  pose) 


tion  to  such  emulation,  least  of  all  artists,  who  con- 
stantly copied  photographs,  frequently  even  posing 
the  sitter  for  the  photographer,  as  Rossetti  did  in  the 
characteristically  Pre-Raphaelite  study  of  Jane 
Morris  (No.  71). 

Many  of  Mrs  Cameron's  beautiful  women  have 
the  strange  emotional  quality  and  melancholy  ex- 
pression that  appears  so  frequently  in  Rossetti's 
models,  but  in  contrast  to  his  voluptuous  types,  Mrs 
Cameron  always  chose  nice  young  girls  whom  she 
draped  in  robes  of  virgin  whiteness,  with  their  long 
hair  flowing  loosely.  Though  the  virginity  is  beyond 
question  the  melancholy  came  of  itself,  for  the 
rigours  of  Mrs  Cameron's  sittings  were  not  conducive 
to  an  animated  expression. 

Whilst  Watts  was  Mrs  Cameron's  chief  adviser  on 
artistic  matters,  Tennyson's  romantic  narrative 
poetry  was  one  of  the  main  sources  of  her  inspiration. 
Both  these  great  Victorians  were  close  friends  of 
Mrs  Cameron  and  for  many  years  her  neighbours  at 
Freshwater,   Isle  of  Wight.   Tennyson's  verses 


70.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  May  Prinsep,  c.  1870 


touched  her  heart,  and  quotations  from  his  poems 
constantly  flowed  from  her  lips.  Her  search  for  sitters 
to  personify  Tennyson's  characters  sometimes  led  to 
embarrassing  moments,  as  when  she  met  Bishop 
(later  Cardinal)  Vaughan,  who  seemed  to  her  an 
ideal  knightly  figure.  'Alfred,  I  have  found  Sir 
Lancelot!'  she  cried  in  triumph,  but  Tennyson's  bad 
sight  prevented  him  from  recognizing  whom  she 
was  pointing  out,  and  he  replied  in  his  deep,  pene- 
trating voice,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  all  the 
other  guests:  'I  want  a  face  well  worn  with  human 
passion.' 

The  majority  of  Mrs  Cameron's  illustrations  to 
Tennyson  are  free  interpretations  having  little  in 
common  with  the  original  except  the  title:  'Enoch 
Arden',  'The  Princess', 'The  Dedication', 'St  Agnes', 
'Oenone',  'Maud',  'The  Rosebud  Garden  of  Girls', 
'The  May  Queen'.  It  is  chiefly  when  she  tries  to 
follow  the  text  literally,  as  in  some  of  her  twenty- 
four  illustrations  to  'The  Idylls  of  the  King,  and 
Other  Poems',  taken  at  Tennyson's  request,  that  the 
result  is  immediately  reminiscent  of  amateur  theatri- 
cals. 'The  Passing  of  Arthur'  (No.  73)  is  unsurpassed 
in  this.  In  the  stately  barge  (an  ordinary  rowing  boat) 
lies  the  wounded  King  (a  local  porter)  looking  some- 
what suspicious  of  his  strange  surroundings.  Un- 
fortunately the  boat  is  too  small  to  contain  the  three 
mourning  Queens,  so  two  of  them  have  to  stand  be- 
hind it,  trying  to  prevent  the  King  from  falling  into 
the  'water'  contrived  out  of  white  muslin  curtains. 
Three  hooded  monks  lurk  uneasily  in  the  back- 
ground beneath  the  sails  which  do  not  stretch  far 
enough,  revealing  odd  corners  and  part  of  the  studio 
roof,  dominated  by  a  waning  moon  scratched  on  the 
negative. 

In  my  opinion  the  best  illustration  in  the  set  is  the 
heroic  portrait  of  King  Arthur  (No.  72)  'with  rage  on 
his  brow,  and  majestic  defiance  in  his  mien  and  gait, 
as  though  he  should  say  "King  am  I,  whatsoever  be 
their  cry"." 

In  illustrating  'The  Idylls  of  the  King'  Julia  Mar- 
garet Cameron  attempted  the  impossible,  things 
photography  cannot  and  should  not  be  made  to  do, 
things  better  left  to  the  imaginative  power  of  a 
graphic  artist  like  Gustave  Dore,  who  also  illustrated 
the  'Idylls'.  Any  attempt  to  illustrate  the  unreal  by  a 
medium  whose  main  contribution  to  art  lies  in  its 
realism  is  inevitably  doomed  to  failure. 

1  From  review  in  The  Morning  Post,  11  January  1875. 

86 


71.  Jane  Morris  posed  by  D.  G.  Rossetti,  July  1865.  Photographer  unknown 


72.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  'King  Arthur',  1874  73.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron.  'The  Passing  of  Arthur', 

1874 


Tennyson,  however,  and  some  of  his  contempor- 
aries were  delighted  with  the  book.1  The  Morning 
Post  praised  'the  rare  dramatic  quality  of  the  artist's 
genius  and  her  wonderful  powers  of  composition. .  . . 
They  are  distinguished  in  an  eminent  degree  by  the 

1  Part  I  was  published  at  Christmas  1874,  Part  II  in 
May  1875. 


intellectual  attributes  all-essential  in  such  a  work — 
affluence  of  imagination,  tenderness  of  sentiment, 

and  idyllic  grace  of  fancy  The  result  is  altogether 

satisfactory,  the  general  character  of  the  work  being 
such  as  to  entitle  it  to  take  rank  among  the  finest 
achievements  of  photographic  art.'2 
-  The  Morning  Post,  n  January  1875. 


88 


VIII 


GENRE 


England  was  the  only  country  in  which  photo- 
graphy was  perverted  in  a  mistaken  attempt  to  rival 
painting.  In  France — as  elsewhere — a  much  sounder 
view  prevailed  as  to  what  constituted  art  in  photo- 
graphy, at  any  rate  until  the  mid-'nineties.  The 
Societe  Francaise  de  Photographie,  founded  in  Paris 
in  November  1854,  gave  no  encouragement  to  arti- 
ficial picture-making,  nor  to  retouching.  Its  Presi- 
dent, E.  Durieu,  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  'straight' 
photography,  as  well  as  condemning  hand-work 


74.  William  Lake  Price.  Partridge,  c.  1855 


absolutely.  'To  call  the  brush  to  the  aid  of  the 
photograph  under  the  pretext  of  introducing  art 
into  it,  is  doing  precisely  the  opposite — excluding 
photographic  art.'] 

French  painters  who  took  up  photography,  like 
Constant  Dutillcux,  Gustave  Le  Gray,  Vallou  de 
Villeneuve  and  Charles  Negre,  practised  it  for  its 

1  'Sur  la  retouche  des  epreuves  photographiques'; 
Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Francaise  de  Photographie,  October 
1855- 


... 

: 

75.  0.  G.  Rejlander.  Tossing  chestnuts,  c.  i860 


76.  0.  G.  Rejlander.  'The  Milkmaid',  c.  1857 


77.  Lady  Hawarden.  'At  the  Window',  c.  1864 


78.  Edward  Draper.  'Boy  with  Parrots',  c.  1865 


own  aesthetic  appeal.  They  did  not  go  beyond  legiti- 
mate genre  photographs  of  picturesque  characters 
such  as  an  organ-grinder  by  Negre  (which  he  copied 
as  a  painting  for  the  Salon),  or  some  Savoyard  street 
musicians  by  Disderi. 

It  is  regrettable  that  in  England,  scenes  of  every- 
day life,  still-lifes,  and  even  unpretentious  anecdotal 
pictures  did  not  find  much  favour,  and  that  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  serious  art  photographers  was  on  the 
whole  directed  into  wrong  channels.  Nevertheless, 
Roger  Fenton's  photographs  of  fruit  and  flowers  and 
game  have  a  delicacy  and  textural  quality  equal  to  the 
finest  seventeenth-century  Dutch  still-lifes  and 
flower  paintings,  and  were  deservedly  honoured  at 
the  International  Exhibition  in  London  1862.  Fen- 
ton,  Adolphe  Braun  and  Lake  Price  (No.  74)  were 
the  acknowledged  masters  in  this  perfectly  legitimate 
field  of  photography.  The  simplicity  and  lightness  of 
their  treatment,  concentrating  on  a  single  or  com- 
paratively few  objects,  gives  a  dignity  to  these 
photographs,  often  lacking  in  the  heavy,  over- 


crowded canvases  of  their  precursors,  many  of 
which  are  little  more  than  a  tour-de-force. 

The  fine  art  photographers'  desire  to  advance  the 
aesthetic  side  of  photography  was  praiseworthy  but 
their  attempts  to  emulate  painting  ill-conceived.  It 
was  fortunate  that  lack  of  appreciation  of  his  elabor- 
ate composite  photographs  directed  Rej  lander's  en- 
deavours into  other  fields.  Many  of  his  delightful 
and  characteristic  genre  pictures  show  genuine  slices 
of  life.  His  photographs  of  poor  ragged  children  like 
'Tossing  chestnuts'  (No.  75),  'Homeless',  'The 
Matchseller',  'The  Crossing  Sweeper';  'The  Milk- 
maid' (No.  76),  'Have  a  Tune,  Miss?',  'Washing  Day', 
'The  Blind  Fiddler'  and  'The  Wayfarer'  reveal  the 
observation  and  sympathy  of  a  fine  artist,  who  had 
the  makings  of  a  modern  reportage  photographer  but 
was  hindered  by  the  inadequacy  of  the  technical 
means  available  at  the  time.  'I  should  be  very  glad  to 
possess  a  lens  that  did  not  need  focusing.  I  should 
carry  it  [the  camera]  in  my  pocket,  and  with  a  dry 
collodion  process  I  could  catch  positions  and  ex- 
pressions in  a  crowd  far  better  than  with  my  own 
eyes.  .  .  .  The  expression  that  is  unpremeditated 
and  unconscious  [of  the  photographer's  presence]  is 
the  best.'1 

'At  the  Window'  (No.  77)  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  genre  pictures  of  the  period,  a  clear  at- 
tempt to  create  something  that  might  appeal  to  the 
imagination.  It  shows  one  of  the  daughters  of  Lady 
Hawarden,  a  well-known  amateur  photographer 
whose  pictures  of  children  and  other  compositions 
Lewis  Carroll  greatly  admired  and  collected. 

Equally  original  are  the  'Boy  with  Parrots'  (No.  78) 
by  another  amateur,  Edward  Draper,  or  William  M. 
Grundy's  'The  Country  Stile'  (No.  79)  whose  pic- 
tures were  compared  with  those  of  Teniers  and 
Wilkie.  These  are  well-composed  pictures  free  from 
any  pretensions  to  fine  art,  real  gems  of  Victorian 
photography. 

Photography  was  Lewis  Carroll's  chief  hobby  dur- 
ing the  most  important  years  of  his  life.  As  a  pro- 
ducer of  costume  pictures  he  is  almost  always  banal, 
but  in  imaginative  portraits  of  children  he  showed 
remarkable  originality  and  naturalness,  achieving 
an  excellence  which  raises  his  work  far  above 
that  of  his  contemporaries  in  this  field.  Lewis  Carroll 
did  not  aim  at  characterization,  but  at  an  attractive 

1  The  Yearbook  of  Photography  and  Photographic  News 
Almanack  for  1880,  p.  81. 


design.  He  was  a  master  of  composition,  the  whole 
arrangement  of  the  picture  is  expressive:  the  position 
of  the  figure,  the  placing  of  accessories,  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  empty  spaces  around  them,  the  trimming 
of  the  print — everything  plays  a  part,  and  every- 
thing is  arranged  in  a  decorative  way.  Occasionally 
we  share  in  a  typical  Carrollean  game  with  his  child 
friends.  'St  George  and  the  Dragon',  'It  Won't 
Come  Smooth'  and  'The  Elopement'  are  charming 
little  anecdotal  pictures  in  which  the  author  of  the 
'Alice'  books  refrains  from  straining  after  artistic 
effect.  They  are  visual  expressions  of  his  immense 
imaginative  power,  complementary  to,  though  less 
known  than,  the  fantastic  stories  he  invented  for  his 
little  girl  friends  and  the  delightful  letters  he  wrote 
to  them.  In  'The  Elopement'  (No.  80)— perhaps  a 


curious  subject  for  a  clergyman  to  choose — Lewis 
Carroll  conjures  up  a  theme  suitable  for  a  Holly- 
wood script-writer.  In  spite  of  her  solemn  expres- 
sion, posing  for  this  picture  no  doubt  amused  his 
little  cousin  as  much  as  it  did  the  photographer.  Pre- 
sumably it  was  not  as  dangerous  as  it  looks,  standing 
with  one  foot  on  the  rope  ladder  and  dangling  the 
other  precariously  in  mid-air. 

'It  Won't  Come  Smooth'  (No.  81)  with  Irene 
MacDonald,  one  of  the  daughers  of  the  novelist  and 
poet  George  MacDonald,  is  a  charming  pictorial 
interpretation  of  Lewis  Carroll's  little  poem: 

'My  Mother  bids  mc  bind  my  hair 

And  not  go  about  such  a  figure. 

It's  a  bother,  of  course,  but  what  do  I  care, 

I  shall  do  as  I  please  when  I'm  bigger.' 


94 


8i.  Lewis  Carroll.  'It  Won't  Come  Smooth',  1863 


IX 


THE  NUDE  BEFORE  THE  CAMERA 


The  nude  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  subjects  for 
photography,  demanding  unusual  refinement  of 
taste,  for  the  borderline  between  naked  and  nude  is 
narrow. 

Before  the  days  of  photography  Ingres  produced 
some  extremely  banal  nudes — proof  that  deteriora- 
tion in  taste  had  set  in  long  before  1839.  If  anything, 
photography  was  an  excellent  mentor  in  correcting 
anatomical  errors  in  representations  of  the  body. 
Artists  were,  of  course,  the  chief  users  of  photo- 


82.  Coloured  French  stereoscopic  daguerreotype  of  an 
odalisque,  c.  1853 


more  economical  to  copy  a  photograph  than  to  hire 
a  model;  for  another,  the  photographer  could  record 
poses  too  difficult  for  the  model  to  hold  for  any 
length  of  time  for  the  artist. 

N.  P.  Lerebours  supplied  the  first  'academies'  as 
early  as  summer  1840,  before  it  was  even  possible  to 
take  portraits,  for  professional  artists'  models  were 
the  only  people  able  to  hold  a  pose  for  the  10-15 
minutes'  exposure  then  necessary.  At  this  period 
Parisian  models  were  nearly  all  dark  Italian  peasant 
girls  from  Naples  or  the  Romagna,  whose  well- 
developed  figures  had  not  been  distorted  by  the  con- 
straint of  fashionable  corsets.  These  girls  modelled 
for  leading  artists  for  the  popular  pictures  of  odalis- 
ques or  bathers,  or  holding  a  pitcher  for  'La  Source'. 
Ingres,  Courbet,  and  Delacroix  frequently  made  use 
of  photographic  figure  studies,  which  also  aided  the 
pompous  compositions  of  typical  Salon  artists  like 
Henner  and  Benjamin  Constant.  Delacroix,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  French  Photographic  Society,  considered 
photographs  'treasures  for  an  artist'  and  confided  to 
Constant  Dutilleux  in  1854:  'How  I  regret  that  such 
a  wonderful  invention  arrived  so  late,  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned.  The  possibility  of  studying  such  results 
would  have  had  an  influence  on  me  of  which  I  can 
only  get  an  idea  from  the  use  they  still  arc  to  me.' 
George  Eastman  House  possessed  two  albums  of 
photographic  nudes  that  had  been  posed  by  Dela- 
croix. Occasionally  he  also  bought  professional 
daguerreotypes.  On  22  October  1854  he  entered  in 
his  diary:  'Worked  a  little  at  the  Odalisque  I  am 
doing  from  the  daguerreotype,'  The  illustration 
(No.  82)  is  of  a  similar  contemporary  French 
daguerreotype  of  a  model  in  oriental  costume. 

Naturally,  photographs  of  nudes  were  made  not 
only  for  painters,  sculptors,  and  for  use  in  art 


96 


83.  O.  G.  Rejlander.  Nude,  1857 
G 


schools,  but  before  long  a  trade  began  in  typical 
Parisian  souvenirs  for  tourists. 

The  introduction  of  stereoscopic  photographs  in 
1 85 1  added  the  sensation  of  viewing  the  figure  in  re- 
lief. But  the  more  lifelike  photographs  became,  the 
stronger  grew  the  objection  to  figure  studies.  The 
licence  granted  to  the  artist  with  brush  or  pencil  was 
withheld  from  the  camera-man  on  account  of  the 
greater  realism  of  his  medium.  'Filthy',  'infamous 
productions'  and  'pruriently  indecent'  thundered  the 
Photographic  Society  of  London,  and  since  it  was 
naively  assumed  that  no  woman  would  willingly 
pose  in  the  nude,  it  was  taken  for  granted  that  'these 
miserable  women  are  the  wives  and  sisters  of  the 
photographers  themselves,  dragged  down  by  their 
vile  companionship  into  such  depths  of  shameless- 
ness'. 

Rejlander  was  one  of  the  few  photographers  who 
succeeded  in  posing  the  figure  in  such  a  way  that 


84.  Nadar.  Christine  Roux,  the  original  'Musette' 
of  Murger's  lLa  Vie  de  Boht"me\  1856 


the  result  would  satisfy  the  most  discerning  critic 
(No.  83).  There  is  nothing  suggestive  in  complete 
nakedness  when  depicted  with  good  taste.  Yet  some 
of  Rejlander's  fine  nudes,  which  to  me  are  equal  to 
the  best  in  painting,  could  not  be  sold  owing  to  the 
action  of  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice — 
and  this  at  a  time  when  every  naked  mediocrity 
executed  in  marble  or  oil  paint  enjoyed  great  popu- 
larity! The  position  is  analogous  at  the  time  of 
writing,  when  we  witness  the  prosecution  of  the 
publishers  of  Lady  Chatterley's  Lover,  a  genuine 
work  of  art,  whilst  sordid  books  of  no  literary  merit 
escape  prosecution  only  because  they  are  suggestive 
rather  than  frank  in  their  treatment  of  sex. 

It  is  unlikely  that  prudish  invective  was  hurled 
at  Nadar's  fine  photograph  of  Christine  Roux,  the 
original  Musette  of  Henri  Murger's  Scenes  de  la  Vie 
de  Boheme  (No.  84),  for  it  most  probably  served  as 
a  study  for  a  painting  and— like  Moulin's  photograph 


85.  Clarence  H.  White  and  Alfred  Stieglitz.  Torso, 
1907 


86.  Bill  Brandt.  Nude,  195S 

99 


87.  Lusha  Nelson.  African  woman,  1934 


of  a  nude  model  which  Courbet  used  for  his  painting 
'The  Artist's  Studio' — was  never  exhibited  in  its 
own  right.  Considering  the  uproar  caused  at  the 
Salon  of  1863  by  Manet's  'Dejeuner  sur  l'Herbe', 
which  Napoleon  III  declared  to  be  indecent,  and 
the  public  indignation  aroused  by  the  same  artist's 
'Olympia'  two  years  later,  the  French  can  hardly  be 
credited  with  greater  broadmindedness  than  the 
English  at  that  period.  It  is  safe  to  assume,  therefore, 
that  Nadar's  photograph  of  'Musette'  would  have 
excited  a  comparable  reaction,  even  though  it  lacks 
the  suggestiveness  so  nakedly  manifest  in  Manet's 
daringly  naturalistic  paintings — as  they  seemed  to  his 
contemporaries. 

Nadar  had  known  Christine  Roux,  the  mistress  of 
his  friend  Murger,  in  the  Bohemian  days  of  his 
youth.  His  photograph  has  the  robust  realism  of  a 
painting  by  Courbet,  and  if  the  pose  is  somewhat 
reminiscent  of  Ingres'  'La  Source',  painted  in  the 
same  year  1856,  it  is  because  Ingres  was  in  the  habit 
of  sending  his  sitters  to  Nadar's  studio  for  pre- 
liminary photographs.  We  may  assume,  therefore, 
that  this  photograph  belonged  to  a  series  of  studies 
for  'La  Source'. 

Half  a  century  later,  Alfred  Stieglitz  and  Clarence 
H.  White  photographed  a  beautiful  torso  slightly  out 
of  focus,  producing  broad,  soft  effects  (No.  85).  The 
contour  of  the  figure  is  vague,  against  a  light  back- 
ground, hazy  and  undefined  as  in  Eugene  Carriere's 
paintings.  This  effect  seemed  appropriate  for  such 
controversial  subject  matter,  and  opposition  to  photo- 
graphic rendering  of  the  nude  melted  away  when  the 
subject  was  not  realistically  treated. 

The  incursion  of  photography  into  pseudo-im- 
pressionism led  the  photographer  to  suppress  nature 
to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  and  with  all  the  charac- 
teristic shortcomings  of  the  methods  necessary  for 
the  transmutation  of  the  pure  camera  image  into  an 
impressionist  picture.  Steichen's  life  studies  look  as 
though  they  were  taken  in  a  London  pea-soup  fog, 
or  'in  coal-cellars'  as  Shaw  sarcastically  commented. 
'He  starts  with  brown,  and  gets  no  further  than 
brown,  and  the  parts  of  his  figures  which  are  obscured 
do  not  produce  the  effect  of  being  obscured  by  dark- 
ness; they  suddenly  become  indistinct  and  insub- 
stantial in  a  quite  unconvincing  and  unreasonable 
way.'1 

'  G.  Bernard  Shaw,  The  Amateur  Photographer,  16 
October  1902. 


The  photographer's  self-consciousness  about  nud- 
ity, which  resulted  in  so  many  aberrations  of  taste, 
led  Shaw  to  advocate  dropping  this  feeling  of  false 
shame.  'The  camera  can  represent  flesh  so  superbly 
that  if  I  dared,  I  would  never  photograph  a  figure 
without  asking  that  figure  to  take  its  clothes  off.  .  .  . 
It  is  monstrous  that  custom  should  force  us  to  dis- 
play our  faces  ostentatiously,  however  worn  and 
wrinkled  and  mean  they  may  be,  whilst  carefully 
concealing  all  our  other  parts,  however  shapely  and 
well  preserved.  . .  .  Our  fashionable  books  on  African 
and  Australian  travel  are  full  of  photographs  of  dark 
ladies,  undraped  and  unembarrassed,  whose  natural 
propriety  passes  unchallenged  because  their  self- 
possession  makes  us  forget  our  unnatural  prudery.'2 

When  in  the  1920s  a  reaction  set  in  against  the 
stuffiness  and  hypocrisy  of  the  previous  century, 
figure  studies  were  no  longer  taboo  and  became  a 
popular  feature  in  photographic  exhibitions.  The 
objective  photographer  was  no  longer  oppressed  by 
the  fear  of  giving  offence  with  a  sharp  photograph 
showing  the  modelling  of  the  body  and  realistic 
rendering  of  skin  texture,  which  are  the  raison  d'etre 
of  photographing  the  human  form  at  all.  Instead  of 
suppressing  nature  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  he 
now  strove  to  represent  it  as  perfectly  as  he  could. 
In  simple,  natural  poses,  all  straining  after  effect  was 
avoided.  Edward  Weston,  Andre  Steiner,  Andre  de 
Dienes,  Emmanuel  Sougez,  John  Havinden  and 
Tateyuki  Nakamura  are  a  few  of  the  photographers 
whose  sensitive  handling  of  the  human  figure  and 
feeling  for  form  led  to  aesthetically  satisfying  pictures 
in  which  harmonious  composition,  modelling  and 
volume  combine  to  transform  nakedness  into  art. 

Bill  Brandt's  anatomical  details  of  bodies  detached 
from  their  context,  and  distortions  of  whole  figures, 
illustrated  in  his  recent  book  Perspective  of  Nudes, 
mark  a  break  with  the  conventional  representation  of 
the  nude.  Brandt  aimed  to  get  rid  of  the  accepted 
image.  His  'nudes'  are  as  different,  in  fact,  as 
wrought-iron  figures  are  from  cast  or  chiselled 
sculpture.  They  are  abstractions,  lacking  human 
form,  volume  and  texture.  They  are  nevertheless 
striking  new  images,  created  by  a  fertile  mind 
pioneering  new  ground,  but  'nudes'  is  a  misnomer, 
perhaps,  for  Bill  Brandt's  pictures,  most  of  which 
are  as  far  removed  from  the  human  form  as  Reg 
Butler's  wrought-iron  women  (No.  86). 

'  loc.  cit. 

IOI 


X 


REPORTAGE  AND  DOCUMENTATION 


Contrary  to  general  belief,  documentary  and  re- 
portage photography  are  not  new  developments. 
The  wish  to  record  life  and  events  existed  even  in 
the  days  of  the  daguerreotype  but  remained,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  unfulfilled  until  the  introduction  of 
the  binocular  (stereoscopic)  camera  in  1853,  and  a 
number  of  other  small  plate  cameras  during  the  next 
decade.  The  greatest  advance  in  this  field,  however, 
was  due  to  fast  gelatine  dry  plates,  available  in  Eng- 
land from  the  late  1870s  onward. 

Undeterred  by  the  difficulty  of  the  undertaking, 
Alois  Locherer,  a  Munich  photographer,  recorded 
the  transport  and  erection  of  the  colossal  statue 
'Bavaria'  in  Munich  in  1850.  The  60  ft.  high 
'Bavaria'  was  the  largest  bronze  statue  of  modern 
times,  and  Locherer  took  six  photographs  of  the 
operation,  from  the  loading  of  the  sections  of  Ludwig 
Schwanthaler's  sculpture  at  the  foundry  (No.  89)  to 
the  setting  up  of  the  figure.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest 
reportages  ever  made,  and  Locherer  ingeniously 
arranged  the  people  in  active-looking  poses  to  simu- 
late an  instantaneous  effect,  although  the  exposure 
cannot  have  been  less  than  about  a  minute. 

It  is  obvious  that  large  plate  cameras  requiring 
lenses  of  long  focus  and  consequently  a  small  stop  to 
obtain  perfect  definition  from  foreground  to  distance, 
were  generally  too  slow  for  reportage  work.  The 
small  binocular  camera  introduced  in  1853  by  J.  B. 
Dancer,  a  Manchester  optician,  revolutionized 
photography  in  the  mid- Victorian  era,  just  as  the 
miniature  camera  has  in  our  own  time.  Fitted  with 
lenses  of  short  focus,  it  gave  a  sharp  picture  at  almost 
open  aperture,  and  the  use  of  hypersensitive  collo- 
dion reduced  the  exposure  to  as  little  as  half  a  second. 

For  the  first  time  it  became  possible  to  take  more 
or  less  instantaneous  views  of  street  life  and  domestic 


scenes  (No.  88),  and  even  news  photographs  of  un- 
usual historical  interest;  though  the  opening  of  the 
rebuilt  Crystal  Palace  at  Sydenham  by  Queen  Vic- 
toria on  10  June  1854  (No.  91)  was  taken  with  an 


88.  'The  Music  Lesson'.  Stereoscopic  photograph, 
c.  1857 


102 


89.  Alois  Locherer.  Transport  of  the  colossal  statue  'Bavaria',  Munich,  1850 


90.  William  England.  Raihoay  bridge  over  the  Niagara  River. 


ordinary  stand  camera,  an  opportune  moment  occur- 
ring during  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury's  prayer. 

The  London  Stereoscopic  Company,  founded  in 
J854,  sent  its  staff"  photographers  as  far  afield  as  the 
Middle  East.  Four  years  later  it  was  in  a  position  to 
advertise  a  stock  of  100,000  different  photographs: 
architecture  and  scenery,  domestic  life,  customs  and 
costumes  of  other  nations,  and  subjects  similar  to 
those  that  a  present-day  photographer  working  for 
illustrated  papers  would  take,  provided  the  action 
could  be  'snapped'  within  an  exposure  of  a  second. 
The  importance  of  stereoscopic  slides  as  a  source  of 
nineteenth-century  documentation  has  so  far  been 
overlooked:  they  provide  a  wealth  of  information, 
quite  apart  from  the  pleasure  they  frequently  give  as 
exquisite  miniature  pictures.  Illustrations  of  social 
activities  of  the  upper  classes  had  the  same  function 


1859 

as  some  pre-war  Hollywood  films — to  give  a  glimpse 
of  luxurious  living  to  those  farthest  removed  from  it. 
Although  the  great  majority  of  these  domestic  scenes 
had  to  be  staged  (instantaneous  photographs  of  in- 
door social  events  only  became  possible  with  the 
introduction  of  the  'Ermanox'  camera  in  1925  in 
conjunction  with  fast  panchromatic  plates),  their 
value  as  social  documents  is  in  no  way  diminished 
since  they  are  contemporary  and  made  for  a  public 
which  would  have  been  critical  of  anything  but  a 
true-to-life  picture. 

In  1859  William  England  added  to  the  thousands 
of  stereoscopic  photographs  which  he  had  taken  for 
the  Stereoscopic  Company  in  many  countries,  a  new 
series  entitled  'America  in  the  Stereoscope'.  Being 
the  first  photographs  of  American  scenery  and  archi- 
tecture to  come  across  the  Atlantic  they  aroused 


104 


much  interest,  especially  his  well-composed  action 
shot  of  a  train  steaming  across  the  suspension  bridge 
which  links  America  with  Canada  across  the  Niagara 
river  (No.  90).  Edward  Anthony's  view  of  Broadway 
on  a  rainy  day  (No.  92)  taken  the  same  year  was  a 
technical  feat  that  surprised  people  by  the  novelty  of 
the  subject  matter.  To  avoid  obtaining  blurred  out- 
lines of  fast-moving  vehicles  the  photographer  had 
to  take  his  street  views  from  some  distance,  usually 
a  first-  or  second-floor  window  of  a  nearby  house. 
Similar  instantaneous  street  scenes  appeared  soon 
afterwards  in  other  capitals.  Adolphe  Braun's  photo- 
graphs of  Parisian  boulevards  were  the  forerunners 
of  similar  painted  views  by  Monet,  Manet,  Renoir 
and  Degas. 

Even  with  ordinary  plate  cameras,  some  photo- 
graphers managed  to  record  an  animated  scene,  as  in 
the  nomination  of  parliamentary  candidates  at  Dover 
in  1863  (No.  93)  in  which  the  blurring  of  the  crino- 
lined ladies  and  the  flags  enhances,  if  anything,  the 
atmosphere  of  the  picture.  Modern  photographers 
have  come  to  realize  this,  for  although  nowadays 
even  the  fastest  movement  can  be  'frozen',  they  fre- 
quently give  a  longer  exposure  than  necessary  in 
order  to  obtain  slight  blurring,  which  conveys  the 
impression  of  movement  much  more  convincingly. 

The  first  extensive  documentation  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge  was  made  by  P.  H.  Delamotte, 
professor  of  drawing  at  King's  College,  London,  and 
official  photographer  to  the  Crystal  Palace  Company, 
for  which  he  took  weekly  photographs  of  the  work  in 
progress  during  the  rebuilding  of  the  Crystal  Palace 
at  Sydenham.  The  160  photographs  which  Dela- 
motte published  in  1855  form  an  excellent  survey 
(No.  94)  of  the  building  operations,  from  preparing 
the  foundations  to  the  opening  by  Queen  Victoria 
already  referred  to. 

In  the  same  year  Roger  Fenton  made  his  famous 
reportage  of  the  allied  troops  before  Sebastopol.  The 
historic  interest  of  this  first  war  reportage  is  obvious, 
but  only  a  photographer  with  an  art  training  could 
have  composed  such  natural  groups,  giving  an 
impression  of  being  instantaneous  (No.  95). 

Space  unfortunately  limits  me  to  illustrating  only 
a  few  of  the  numerous  photographs  that  bring  to  life 
historic  events  in  unforgettable  pictures  such  as 
T.  H.  O'Sullivan's  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  (No.  97) 
during  the  American  Civil  War  and  the  Butte  de 
Montmartre  during  the  Paris  Commune  (No.  98). 


96.  Thomas  Annan.  Glasgow  slum  (No.  28,  Salt- 
market),  1868 


The  prototype  of  the  Far  Eastern  reportages  of 
Cartier-Bresson  and  Werner  Bischof  appeared  in 
1873-4  in  London:  Illustrations  of  China  and  its 
People  is  a  four-volume  work  illustrated  with  200 
photographs  by  John  Thomson,  a  well-known 
traveller  and  many-sided  photographer  who  also 
pioneered  social  documentation  (see  p.  154)  and  'at 
home'  portraiture  of  celebrities. 

Between  1868  and  1877  Thomas  Annan  took  an 
interesting  series  of  photographs  of  Glasgow  slums 
for  the  Glasgow  City  Improvement  Trust  (No.  96). 
Much  of  his  work  goes  deeper  than  the  mere  record- 
ing of  a  close  or  alley  to  be  demolished,  for  the 


108 


97-  T.  H.  (T  Sullivan.  'The  Harvest  of  Death'— battlefield  of  Gettysburg,  July  1863 


99-  Jacob  A.  Riis.  New  York  slum  dweller  on  makeshift  bed  in  a  coal  cellar,  c.  1888.  Flashlight  photograph 


100.  Lewis  Ffine.  Child  labour  in  Carolina  cottonmilh  1908 


poverty-stricken  people  outside  their  ramshackle 
wooden  houses  are  a  vivid  reminder  to  society  of  its 
obligations  towards  those  who  work  for  it. 

A  similar  intention  moved  Jacob  A.  Riis,  a  Danish 
carpenter  who  became  a  newspaper  reporter  of 
police-court  cases,  first  for  the  New  York  Tribune 
and  later  for  the  Evening  Sun.  His  work  brought  him 
into  contact  with  the  terrible  conditions  in  New  York 
tenements  in  the  'eighties  (No.  99)  particularly  in 
Mulberry  Bend,  a  notorious  slum.  Realizing  that 
they  were  the  main  cause  of  the  crimes  he  was  report- 
ing, and  convinced  that  the  camera  would  prove  a 
mightier  weapon  than  the  pen  against  poverty  and 
overcrowding,  Riis  took  up  photography  in  1887 
and  became  America's  first  photo-reporter.  In 
articles,  lectures  and  books  Riis  pictured  'How  the 


Other  Half  Lives'  and  rallied  support  for  their  relief. 
His  success  was  the  best  proof  of  the  power  of 
photography  to  awaken  the  social  conscience,  for 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  then  Governor  of  New  York 
State,  instigated  a  number  of  social  reforms,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  demolition  of  Mulberry  Bend  and  the 
rehousing  of  its  inhabitants. 

Lewis  W.  Hine,  an  American  sociologist,  also 
found  the  camera  an  indispensable  aid  in  his  work. 
His  revelation  of  the  exploitation  of  children  in  fac- 
tories (No.  100)  led  to  the  passing  of  the  child  labour 
laws.  Hine  also  exposed  the  miserable  conditions  of 
penniless  immigrants  after  their  arrival  at  Ellis 
Island.  His  human  documents  were  a  terrible  accusa- 
tion against  the  social  injustice  of  the  times,  and  had 
the  desired  effect. 


101.  Sir  Benjamin  Stone.  Ox-roasting  at  Stratford-on-Avon  'mop',  c.  1898 


m 


In  1897  Sir  Benjamin  Stone,  MP  for  Birmingham, 
founded  the  National  Photographic  Record  Associa- 
tion with  the  aim  of  documenting  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  English,  picturesque  festivals  and 
pageants,  and  traditional  ceremonies  which  were 
slowly  dying  out.  He  himself  was  the  most  active 
photographer  in  the  Association,  and  at  his  death 
left  a  collection  of  22,000  photographs — some  desper- 
ately dull  records,  others  scenes  of  lively  activity 
(No.  101). 

Arnold  Genthe's  photograph  of  the  feeding  of  the 
San  Francisco  earthquake  survivors  (No.  103)  looks 
at  first  sight  like  a  still  from  a  film  on  account  of  its 
theatrical  effect.  Having  lost  everything  himself, 
Genthe  borrowed  a  camera  to  record  the  conditions 
after  the  catastrophe,  producing  a  set  of  pictures 
which  are  visually  appealing  and  at  the  same  time 
valuable  historic  documents. 

Equally  moving  is  Nahum  Luboshez's  picture  of 
starving  peasants  (No.  104)  taken  during  one  of  the 
recurring  famines  in  Russia. 

The  greatly  increased  mobility,  which  fast  nega- 
tive material  allowed,  showed  itself  not  only  in  out- 
door reportage  but  also  in  photo-interviews.  For  the 
first  time  it  was  possible  to  photograph  people  in 


their  own  surroundings.  This  added  considerably  to 
the  interest  of  a  portrait,  freeing  the  photographer 
from  the  danger  of  stereotyped  effects.  A  pioneer  in 
this  field  was  John  Thomson,  who  exhibited  in  1881 
a  series  of  'at  home'  portraits  of  well-known  people 
at  the  London  Photographic  Society. 

Photo-interviews  with  celebrities  are  also  very 
much  a  feature  of  modern  newspapers.  Few  people 
are  aware  that  the  first  one  took  place  as  long  ago  as 
1886  when  Nadar  interviewed  the  great  scientist 
M.  E.  Chevreul  on  the  eve  of  his  hundredth  birth- 
day. A  good  beginning  to  the  conversation  was  the 
centenarian's  opening  remark:  'I  was  an  enemy  of 
photography  until  my  ninety-seventh  year,  but  three 
years  ago  I  capitulated.'  Chevreul's  lively  answers 
to  a  great  variety  of  questions  put  by  Nadar  were 
noted  by  a  stenographer  while  at  the  same  time 
Nadar's  son  Paul  took  a  series  of  instantaneous 
photographs.  When  No.  102  was  taken,  Chevreul 
was  just  saying — referring  no  doubt  to  General 
Boulangcr — 'Herein  lies  the  disadvantage  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  day.  It  is  the  philosophy  of  dema- 
gogues; nothing  but  empty  words.'  Thirteen  of  the 
photographs  were  published  in  Le  Journal  Illustre  in 
September  1886.  Three  years  later  the  two  Nadars 


102.  Paul  Nadar.  The  first  photo-interview:  Nadar  (Gaspard  Felix  Tournachon)  interviews  the  centenarian 
scientist  M.  E.  Chevreul,  August  1886 


112 


103.  Arnold  Gent  he.  Public  feeding  after  the 


San  Francisco  earthquake  on  18  April  1906 


104.  Nahum  Luboshez.  Famine  in  Russia, 
c.  1910 


r   JHHR,  *v 


105.  £//«br  and  Fry.  Sir  Joseph  Wilson  Swan,  1904 


photo-interviewed  General  Boulanger  for  Le  Figaro. 

A  remarkable  book 1  of  illustrated  interviews  with 
celebrities  was  published  in  1904.  The  photographs 
by  the  author,  W.  B.  Northrop,  are  very  much  on 
the  lines  of  Elliot  and  Fry's  portrait  of  Sir  Joseph 
Wilson  Swan  (No.  105)  taken  in  his  laboratory  in  the 
same  year.  Today's  'portrait  profiles'  in  the  Sunday 
papers  continue  in  this  tradition.  The  reportage 
style  of  portraiture  conveys  the  personality  of  the 
sitter  through  the  atmosphere  of  his  own  surroun- 
dings and  is  particularly  successful  in  the  case  of 
artists  and  scientists  in  their  studio  or  laboratory 
because  the  objects  present  are  bound  to  add  to  the 
meaning  and  expressiveness  of  the  picture.  This  has 

1  W.  B.  Northrop,  With  Pen  and  Camera :  Interviews 
with  Celebrities,  London,  1 904. 


been  especially  successfully  demonstrated  in  Eight 
European  Artists  by  Felix  H.  Man,  and  in  Ida  Kar's 
exhibition  at  the  Whitechapel  Art  Gallery.  The 
power  of  her  pictures  springs  from  the  simplicity  of 
composition  with  which  she  creates  a  feeling  of 
depth  and  spaciousness  (No.  225),  and  this  is  as 
marked  as  her  liking  for  black  and  white  contrast. 

With  the  exception  of  a  comparatively  few  photo- 
graphers making  a  living  from  portraying  the  highest 
and  lowest  in  the  social  scale,  amateur  photography 
and  modern  reportage  in  their  combined  effect  are 
gradually  destroying  the  demand  for  the  conven- 
tional studio  portrait.  Thus  the  professional  portrait 
photographer,  who  fifty  years  ago  more  or  less 
eliminated  the  portrait  painter,  is  now  in  his  turn 
ousted  by  the  popular  'do  it  yourself  activity  of  our 
times. 


114 


XI 


PUSH-BUTTON  PHOTOGRAPHY 


During  the  1880s  the  general  introduction  of 
ready-made  dry  plates  and  films  twenty  times  faster 
than  any  previous  negative  material,  and  of  small 
cheap  hand-cameras  such  as  the  Kodak,  opened  the 
door  to  hundreds  of  amateurs  who  had  been  deterred 
from  learning  to  make  pictures  by  the  difficulties  of 
the  wet  collodion  process.  For  the  first  time  in  its 
history  everything  about  photography  was  mass- 


produced,  from  the  apparatus,  negative  and  positive 
material,  to  the  pictures  themselves.  The  new 
machine-man  was  content  to  follow  manufacturers' 
instructions  implicitly,  and  rely  on  the  camera  and 
the  developing  and  printing  firm  to  make  the  pic- 
tures for  him.  He  lacked  the  enthusiasm  of  the  early 
pioneers,  who  felt  impelled  to  make  pictures,  how- 
ever difficult  the  task.  Gone  was  the  spirit  of  dis- 


106.  Oscar  van  Zel.  Skating,  c.  1887 


115 


107.  J.  Bridson.  Picnic,  c.  1882 


covery,  of  experimentation,  the  fascination  of  watch- 
ing the  picture  slowly  appear  as  if  by  magic  in  the 
developing  bath. 

Clever  advertising  slogans  like  George  Eastman's 
'You  press  the  button,  we  do  the  rest'  inevitably 
lowered  the  status  as  well  as  the  standard  of  photo- 
graphy. So  easy  had  photography  become  that  every- 
one who  tried  could  produce  a  result  of  some  kind. 
Eastman's  persuasive  statement  that  'a  collection  of 
these  [Kodak]  pictures  may  be  made  to  furnish  a 
pictorial  history  of  life  as  it  is  lived  by  the  owner, 
that  will  grow  more  valuable  every  day  that  passes' 
was  a  brilliant  application  of  mass  psychology  to 
business.  This  was,  and  is,  all  that  the  average  camera 
user  asks  of  photography.  But  the  push-button 
method  let  loose  many  of  the  evils  from  which 
photography  is  suffering  today. 

Apart  from  a  small  group  of  serious  amateurs  who 
started  the  aesthetic  movement  in  photography,  most 


of  the  new  generation  of  photographers  were  entirely 
devoid  of  artistic  training  and  feeling.  They  were  not 
interested  in  the  camera  as  a  means  of  expression. 

The  dangers  of  haphazard  snapshooting  were  fore- 
seen from  the  start  by  a  few  perceptive  people. 
'Whatever  little  notions  of  art  a  person  might  have  in 
his  head  would  certainly  be  driven  out  of  it,  for  the 
knowledge  that  he  could  take  an  almost  unlimited 
number  of  pictures  would  lead  him  to  expose  a  sheet 
[of  film]  on  every  possible  occasion,  and  probably 
99  per  cent  of  what  he  obtained  would  be  thoroughly 
inartistic  productions.'1 

G.  Bernard  Shaw,  one  of  the  new  amateurs, 
assured  me  that  his  classic  remark  'The  photo- 
grapher is  like  the  cod,  which  produces  a  million 
eggs  in  order  that  one  may  reach  maturity'  was  based 
on  personal  experience. 

1  Sir  W.  de  W.  Ahney,  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Arts, 
26  March  1886. 


116 


No  pursuit  is  better  adapted  than  photography  to 
cultivate  the  powers  of  observation,  but  this  cultiva- 
tion demands  attention  and  reflection.  However 
simple  the  manipulation,  there  is  no  short  cut  to 
artistic  knowledge.  Intelligence  and  care  are  as  vital 
for  the  production  of  good  photographs  as  for  suc- 
cess in  any  other  medium.  The  subjects  within  the 
range  of  the  amateur  photographer  are  so  diverse  and 
the  aspects  of  even  one  subject  so  numerous,  that  the 
need  for  thought  assumes  greater  importance  than 
ever. 

'The  evidence  is  clear  enough',  wrote  P.  H. 
Emerson,  'that  had  the  artists  and  scientists  who 
were  the  promotors  of  the  first  English  Photographic 
Society  held  their  own,  photography  today  would 


probably  have  been  practised  by  artists  and  scientists 
alone — a  noble  and  learned  profession — instead  of 
being  practised,  as  is  now  only  too  often  the  case,  by 
illiterate  and  ignorant  tradesmen.'1  Considering  the 
mentality  of  the  average  snapshooter  today  I  despair 
of  the  results  if  Moholy-Nagy's  prediction  came 
true:  'the  ignoramuses  of  the  future  will  be  not  only 
those  unable  to  read  or  write,  but  also  those  ignorant 
of  photography'.2 

As  we  have  seen,  the  purposeful  amateurs  did  ex- 
cellent work  in  social  documentation  and  reportage 


1  P.  H.  Hmerson,  Pictures  from  Life  in  Field  and  Fen, 
London,  1887. 

2  L.  Moholy-Nagy  in  Modern  Photography,  London 
and  New  York,  1935. 


108.  Paris  International  Exhibition,  1889:  under  the  Eiffel  Tower 

117 


opened  up  by  the  technical  advance.  They  rejuven- 
ated photography  in  other  fields  too.  P.  H.  Emerson 
was  one  of  the  new  amateurs,  but  a  gulf  separated 
him  and  others  who  sought  to  advance  photography 
as  an  art,  from  the  mass  of  push-button  photo- 
graphers. Indeed,  the  progress  of  photography  in  its 
picture-making  aspect  has  at  every  period  been 
largely  due  to  the  pioneer  work  of  serious  amateurs, 
for  professionals  are  by  nature  unadventurous,  pre- 
ferring routine  to  ruin.  Some  amateurs  made  de- 
lightful spontaneous  pictures  (Nos.  106  and  107) 
that  vibrate  with  life.  Working  by  rule  of  thumb  and 
using  their  eyes,  they  discovered  that  by  a  click  of  the 
shutter  they  could  capture  a  slice  of  life  for  ever — as 
in  this  view  of  the  Paris  Exhibition  1889,  with  people 
half  cut-off  (No.  108).  'Horrible  bungling  amateur 
stuff',  scoffed  the  pictorialists  at  the  Photographic 


Society,  but  to  me  these  rather  free-and-easy  snap- 
shots have  more  aesthetic  appeal  than  their  well- 
composed  affectations. 

The  pictorialists  remained  quite  uninterested  in 
the  new  range  of  subject  matter.  For  them  any 
photograph  that  showed  life  was  'record  work'.  They 
merely  used  the  new  simplified  technique  to  indulge 
in  fine  art  photography  with  greater  facility.  Their 
efforts  to  elevate  photography  by  ambitious  imita- 
tion paintings  continued  to  fill  photographic  exhibi- 
tions with  banalities  on  a  par  with  those  hung  at  the 
Royal  Academy  at  the  time.  In  the  'seventies  and 
'eighties  there  was  a  dearth  of  artistic  photography, 
and  the  little  that  existed  was  confined  to  a  clique 
of  pictorialists  dominated  by  H.  P.  Robinson.  In  the 
pursuit  of  a  phantom,  their  pictures  became  more 
and  more  stereotyped. 


109.  P.  H.  Emerson.  'Setting  the  bow-net.'  Platinotype,  1885 

118 


XII 


NATURALISTIC  PHOTOGRAPHY 


Uesiring  to  regenerate  photography,  P.  H.  Emerson 
called  for  a  return  to  nature,  as  the  Barbizon  School 
and  Courbet  had  done  a  generation  earlier  in  paint- 
ing. 'Wherever  the  artist  has  been  true  to  nature,  an 
has  been  good;  wherever  the  artist  has  neglected 
nature  and  followed  his  imagination  there  has  re- 
sulted bad  art.  Nature,  then,  should  be  the  artist's 
standard.'  This  was  Emerson's  anti-romantic  Credo 
laid  down  in  his  book  Naturalistic  Photography 
(1889).  He  convincingly  demonstrated  in  seven  beau- 
tifully illustrated  books  on  the  Norfolk  Broads 
(where  he  had  a  houseboat)  that  a  photographer 
could  imbue  ordinary  subjects  with  artistic  quality 
bearing  a  personal  stamp:  consequently  there  was  no 
need  to  resort  to  the  artificialities  of  the  fine  art 
photographers. 

With  sensitive  feeling  Emerson  rendered  at  all 
seasons  of  the  year  the  atmospheric  conditions  of 
this  low-lying  land  intersected  with  rivers  and  lakes. 
An  admirer  of  J.  F.  Millet,  who  devoted  his  life  to 
portraying  the  work  of  the  peasants  at  Barbizon, 
Emerson  depicted  with  similar  insight  and  sympathy 
the  simple  life  of  the  fenland  people,  setting  and 
taking  up  their  fishing-nets  (No.  109),  shooting  duck 
and  snipe,  gathering  reeds  (No.  m),  ploughing  and 
harvesting.  Life  and  Landscape  of  the  Norfolk  Broads 
(1886),  the  finest  and  rarest  of  Emerson's  books, 
contains  original  platinum  prints;  the  succeeding 
volumes,  also  published  in  limited  editions  during 
the  next  nine  years,  were  illustrated  with  photo- 
gravures or  photo-etchings — processes  which  he 
considered  more  artistic  in  giving  a  broader,  softer 
rendering  than  a  photographic  print. 

In  contrast  to  the  landscape  photographers  of  the 
eighteen-fifties  and  sixties,  whose  aim  had  been  a 


picture  of  all-over  sharpness,  Emerson  advocated  a 
certain  degree  of  softness  also  in  the  negative  through 
differential  focusing  (by  which  the  principal  subject 
of  the  picture  was  sharp  and  the  remainder  less  so). 
Differential  focusing,  Emerson  claimed,  enabled  the 
naturalistic  photographer  to  give  a  subjective  render- 
ing of  nature,  whereas  the  realistic  photographer  re- 
corded with  objective,  soulless  precision.  This  was, 
however,  only  one  of  Emerson's  many  erroneous 
theories,  for  subjective  photography  as  opposed  to 
mechanical  photography  is  dependent  on  the  artistic- 
ability  of  the  photographer  and  not  on  soft  or  sharp 
rendering.  The  creative  photographer  will  employ 
whatever  method  is  best  suited  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  particular  subject.  Yet  in  spite  of  Emerson's 
wordy  expositions  of  naturalistic  photography,  it  is 
difficult  to  detect  much  difference  in  technique  be- 
tween the  fine  realist  landscapes  of  the  first  genera- 
tion of  photographers  and  his  own. 

Pictures  of  East  Anglian  Life  (1888),  a  copy  of 
which  Emerson  gave  to  every  English  photographic 
society,  was  intended  to  elucidate  his  views  set  forth 
in  his  textbook  Naturalistic  Photography,  which  had 
no  illustrations.  It  was,  however,  not  so  much 
Emerson's  innovations  that  aroused  consternation 
amongst  the  older  generation  at  the  Photographic 
Society  of  London,  as  the  constant  stream  of  invec- 
tive directed  against  all  who  did  not  agree  with  him. 

Emerson's  contention  that  a  soft  photograph  gives 
breadth  of  effect  and  is  more  suggestive  of  the  true 
character  of  nature  had  in  fact  first  been  put  forward, 
as  we  have  seen,  by  Sir  William  Newton  thirty-six 
years  earlier.  Now  the  controversial  question  soft 
versus  sharp  was  revived  with  renewed  vigour,  based 
on  the  same  arguments  as  before.  To  its  opponents, 


119 


no.  Frank  Sutcliffe.  'Excitement.''  Platinotype,  1888 


the  doctrine  of  soft  focus  attacked  one  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  photographic  optics.  To  its  ad- 
herents, beauty  of  form  and  expression  was  injured 
by  sharpness  of  outline.  They  maintained  that 
photographs  were  too  technically  perfect  to  be 
artistic,  and  that  broad  masses  of  light  and  shade 
would  indicate  a  subject  sufficiently  well,  leaving 
some  play  for  the  imagination.  To  achieve  this,  the 
proposal  to  construct  intentionally  defective  lenses, 
first  raised  in  1853,1  was  argued  afresh.  Dallmeyer's 
portrait  lens  of  1866  had  in  fact  been  designed  in 
the  vain  belief  that  the  slightly  soft  effect  of  Julia 
Margaret  Cameron's  portraits  could  be  artificially 
imitated.  Emerson  was  a  great  admirer  of  Mrs 
Cameron,  and  her  work  was  again  cited  by  the  new 
advocates  of  soft  focus.  They  did  not  realize  that  the 
softness  noticeable  in  some  of  Mrs  Cameron's  por- 
traits was  not  deliberate,  but  arose  from  her  use  of  a 
lens  of  unusually  long  focal  length  (30  in.)  which 
obliged  her  to  work  at  open  aperture  to  arrive  at 

1  E.  W.  Dallas,  The  Photographic  Journal,  21  April  1853. 


exposures  of  manageable  length.  This  resulted  in 
differential  focusing — sharp  in  the  parts  on  which 
she  focused,  and  rapidly  falling  off  in  the  receding 
and  projecting  parts  of  the  sitter.  But,  I  repeat, 
there  was  no  intentional  softness  for  artistic  reasons, 
as  in  the  paintings  and  lithographs  of  Eugene 
Carriere,  for  instance. 

Nevertheless  Mrs  Cameron's  photographs,  and 
the  paintings  of  the  Impressionists  who  had  re- 
nounced objectivity  and  realistic  representation, 
lent  force  to  Emerson's  arguments.  But  it  was  not 
until  the  public  had  become  accustomed  to  the  in- 
distinct contours  of  the  Impressionists  that  the  idea 
of  soft  focus  gained  ground — and  then  it  soon  got 
out  of  control. 

Meanwhile  a  new  school  of  landscape  photography 
came  into  being  through  Emerson's  influence.  Its 
most  prominent  members  were  the  amateurs  George 
Davison,  Col  Joseph  Gale,  A.  Horsley  Hinton, 
J.  B.  B.  Wellington,  B.  Gay  Wilkinson,  and  the 
professionals  Lyddell  Sawyer  (No.  112)  and  Frank 
M.  Sutcliffe  (No.  no). 


120 


III.  P.  H.  Emerson.  'Towing  the  Reed.'  Platinotype,  1885 


112.  Lyddell  Sawyer.  'In  the  Twilight. '  Photogravure,  1888 


XIII 


IMPRESSIONISTIC  PHOTOGRAPHY 


George  Davison,  one  of  the  naturalistic  photo- 
graphers, soon  fell  under  the  spell  of  Impressionism 
and  went  further  than  Emerson  considered  desirable 
in  correcting  the  'unpicturesque  and  lifeless  exacti- 
tude' of  landscape  photographs.  Davison  aspired  to 
produce  such  a  rendering  of  nature  as  to  convey  the 


general  impression  created  at  first  glance.  His  tenet 
that  no  object  should  be  sharply  in  focus  was 
achieved  by  using  a  'pinhole  lens',  and  to  increase 
the  'fuzzy'  effect  the  photograph  was  printed  on  the 
roughest  drawing  paper. 
The  earliest  impressionist  photograph,  'An  Old 


113.  George  Davison.  'The  Onion  Field.'  Photogravure,  1890 

122 


114.  B.  Gay  Wilkinson.  'Sand  Dunes.'  Photogravure,  1889 


Farmstead'  (later  entitled  'The  Onion  Field')  (No. 
113)  caused  a  sensation  when  shown  in  autumn  1890 
at  the  Photographic  Society's  annual  exhibition, 
where  surprisingly  it  was  hung  in  a  place  of  honour 
and  awarded  a  medal. 

'Perhaps  no  more  beautiful  landscape  has  ever 
been  produced  by  photographic  methods  than  Mr 
Davison's  "Old  Farmstead",'  wrote  The  Times.  'In 
this,  atmospheric  effect  is  admirably  rendered  and, 
looked  at  from  a  suitable  distance,  the  picture  gives 
a  wonderfully  true  rendering  of  the  subject.'  It  is 
paradoxical  that  at  a  time  when  the  most  perfect  lens 


to  date,  the  anastigmat,  had  just  been  introduced, 
Davison  should  dispense  with  a  lens  altogether  and 
use  instead  a  piece  of  sheet-metal  punched  with  a 
small  hole.  The  ruse  of  excessive  diffusion  of  focus 
and  flat,  low  tones  to  give  the  photograph  the  appear- 
ance of  an  impressionist  painting  was,  of  course, 
only  yet  another  way  of  perverting  photography  in 
imitation  of  painting — throwing  away  the  substance 
for  the  shadow.  An  impressionistic  photograph  did 
not  really  deceive  anyone;  it  loooked  at  best  like  a 
monochrome  reproduction  of  a  painting.  But  when- 
ever photographs  resemble  contemporary  art  they 


123 


115.  Heinrich  Kiihn.  'A  Venetian 
Canal.''  Gum  print  {charcoal 
colour),  1897  {reproduction) 


obscure  the  critical  faculty  of  art  critics,  who  are 
quite  incapable  of  judging  photographs  for  their 
photographic  qualities.  The  exquisite  little  photo- 
graph 'Sand  Dunes'  {No.  114)  by  B.  Gay  Wilkinson, 
shown  in  the  same  exhibition,  treated  a  simple  sub- 
ject honestly  and  with  more  genuine  artistry  than 
Davison's  painterly  'Old  Farmstead';  yet  it  scarcely 
drew  any  attention  from  critics. 

Impressionistic  photography  aroused  fierce  con- 
troversy, just  as  Impressionist  painting  had  done 
before.  The  most  vituperative  attacks  came  from 
P.  H.  Emerson,  for  Davison  had  not  only  gone  too 
far  in  his  interpretation  of  naturalistic  photography; 
he  had  dared,  Emerson  claimed,  to  lecture  on  'Im- 
pressionism and  Photography'1  without  giving  credit 

1  Lecture  at  the  (Royal)  Society  of  Arts,  December 
1890. 


116.  Lacroix.  'Park  Sweeper.'  Photogravure  of  a  gum 
print,  c.  1900 

to  the  master's  fundamental  theories  on  which  im- 
pressionism was  based.  Emerson  was  enraged  by 
Davison's  assumption  of  leadership,  and  his  re- 
nunciation of  naturalistic  photography  in  January 
1 89 1  in  a  black-bordered  pamphlet  entitled  'The 
Death  of  Naturalistic  Photography' — Emerson  was 
always  inclined  to  theatrical  gestures — was  largely 
the  outcome  of  violent  egotism  and  offended  vanity. 
The  reasons  put  forward  by  Emerson  for  his  volte 
face  were  unconvincing  and  his  arguments  confused. 
With  the  same  fervour  with  which  he  had  made  ex- 
aggerated art  claims  for  photography  only  two 
years  before,  he  now  denounced  it  as  'the  lowest  of 
all  the  arts'.  Had  he  grasped  the  true  aims  and 
limitations  of  photography  much  of  his  book 
Naturalistic  Photography  and  the  whole  of  his  re- 
cantation need  never  have  been  written.  Surprisingly, 


124 


117-  Robert  Demachy.  'Primavera.'  Photogravure  of  a  gum  print  (red  chalk  colour),  c.  1896 


a  third  edition  of  Naturalistic  Photography  in  1899 
by  no  means  contradicted  all  that  appeared  in  the 
first  and  second  editions.  Logic  was  not  Emerson's 
strong  point,  as  he  had  already  shown  in  dedicating 
his  book  to  the  memory  of  Adam- Salomon,  whose 
work  was  far  removed  from  his  ideals  in  photo- 
graphy. 

Some  photographers  were  content  with  'Impres- 
sionism' as  defined  by  George  Davison.  Blurring  the 
image  by  optical  means  (a  'pinhole  lens',  a  simple 
spectacle  lens,  or  a  specially  constructed  soft  focus 
lens  such  as  that  designed  in  1896  by  T.  R.  Dall- 
meyer  at  the  suggestion  of  J.  S.  Bergheim,  a  painter) 
and  printing  or  enlarging  it  on  coarse  paper,  was 
indeed  still  defensible  as  photographic  technique. 
The  erroneous  notion,  however,  that  even  this  failed 
to  give  an  absolutely  satisfactory  rendering  of  nature 
led  for  the  first  time  to  a  new  conception  of  creative 
photography:  modification.  The  painter,  it  was 
argued,  is  not  bound  by  representation,  he  gives  a 
free  translation  of  the  original,  omitting  or  altering 
whatever  impairs  his  design.  A  photographer  striving 
to  be  an  artist  in  his  medium  needs  similar  freedom. 
He  must  overcome  the  limitations  of  his  instrument 
which  restrict  his  powers  of  expression.  Breaking  up 
of  the  smooth  halftones  of  the  photographic  image 
began  to  be  considered  inadequate  in  overcoming 
the  'unnaturalness'  of  photography.  The  required 
control,  it  was  felt,  could  be  brought  about  only  by 
modifying  the  image  through  manual  interference, 
which  would  rid  photography  at  the  same  time  of 
the  never-ceasing  reproach  that  it  was  a  mechanical 
art.  Hand-work,  moreover,  had  the  merit — so  it  was 
argued — of  distinguishing  the  creative  photographer 
from  the  ever-increasing  tribe  of  thoughtless  snap- 
shooters. 

The  gum  bichromate  printing  process  introduced 
in  1894  by  A.  Rouille-Ladeveze  allowed  the  photo- 
grapher the  artistic  licence  he  had  hoped  for.  He 
could  remove  details,  alter  tone  values,  and  by  vari- 
ous means  modify  the  image  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
could  no  longer  be  considered  a  reproduction  of 
nature  made  by  the  camera.  It  was  a  new  work  owing 
its  existence  to  the  ingenuity  of  his  interpretation. 
This  was  creative  photography,  and  he  felt  entitled 
to  style  himself  'art  photographer'.  By  adding 
different  pigments  and  using  rough  drawing  paper, 
the  print  could  be  given  the  appearance  of  a  red 
chalk  (No.  117)  or  charcoal  drawing  (No.  115).  By 


exposing  the  negative  initially  to  coarse  canvas  the 
photograph  could  be  made  to  imitate  a  reproduction 
of  a  painting  (No.  116).  'Precious  daubs'  and  'mere- 
tricious efforts',  scoffed  Emerson,  justifiably,  but  to 
the  'paper  stainers'  and  'gum  splodgers'  this  was 
photographic  Art.  Nothing  delighted  them  more 
than  the  remark:  'By  Jove,  that  doesn't  look  a  bit 
like  a  photograph!' 

I  must  admit  that,  in  spite  of  not  being  pure 
photographs,  the  decorative  quality  of  the  best  of 
these  pictures  gives  them  great  charm.  They  are  a 
remarkable  manifestation  of  the  fin-de-siecle  decad- 
ence evident  in  art  and  literature.  Robert  Demachy's 
ballet  dancer  (No.  118)  has  the  charm  of  a  Degas 
pastel.  Frau  Nothmann's  'In  the  Garden'  (No.  121) 
reminds  one  of  a  Renoir.  Heinrich  Kiihn's  'Venetian 
View'  (No.  115)  is  like  a  watercolour  by  Sargent. 
Edward  Steichen's  masterpiece  (No.  119)  expresses 
the  genius  of  Rodin  silhouetted  against  the  luminous 
white  of  his  statue  of  Victor  Hugo  and  contemplating 
his  'Thinker':  it  is  a  more  pretentious  essay  in 
impressionism. 

When  one  art  copies  the  characteristic  of  another, 
decadence  inevitably  sets  in.  Thus  Impressionism, 
which  began  in  painting  as  a  great  movement, 
dwindled  in  photography  to  empty  aestheticism. 
Yet  at  no  time  during  its  entire  history  was  photo- 
graphy held  in  such  high  esteem  by  painters  as  at 
the  fin  de  siecle,  photographically  speaking  the  years 
of  decadence.  The  modern  painters  in  Munich 
(1898)  and  in  Vienna  (1902)  opened  the  doors  of  the 
Secession  to  the  impressionist  movement  in  photo- 
graphy. In  Berlin  the  first  Exhibition  of  Artistic 
Photography  was  held  at  the  Royal  Academy  of  Art 
in  February-March  1899  (No.  120),  so  close  had 
the  relationship  become.  It  was  a  marriage  of  con- 
venience from  which  each  partner  expected  to  profit: 
the  photographers  by  recognition,  the  painters  by 
photographic  subject  matter,  for  by  this  time  most 
painters  had  dark-rooms  attached  to  their  studios. 

Although  the  creator  of  gum  prints  was  frequently 
only  a  forger  of  painter's  work,  and  at  best  an  imita- 
tor of  non-photographic  techniques,  he  was  looked 
upon  as  an  artist,  vastly  superior  to  those  who  be- 
lieved in,  or  had  to  be  satisfied  with,  straight  tech- 
nique. 

'The  art  photographers  have  rightly  realized  that 
in  spite  of  the  expression  of  their  personality  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  object,  the  finished  picture  is 


n8.  Robert  Demachy.  'Behind  the  Scenes.''  Photogravure  of  a  gum  print,  1904 


due  to  a  mechanical  and  impersonal  apparatus.  The 
picture  has  therefore  the  character  of  a  mechanical, 
i.e.  inartistic,  reproduction.  For  this  reason  photo- 
graphers made  a  big  step  forward.  They  interfered 
with  the  positive  print,  by  no  longer  printing  the 
negative  as  it  appeared.  By  the  choice  of  paper, 
omitting  details,  adding  to  or  deepening  lights  and 
shades,  and  by  an  unending  series  of  manipulations 
which  depend  upon  their  personal  judgment,  they 
alter  the  photograph  to  such  an  extent  that  one  can 
no  longer  speak  of  a  merely  mechanical  reproduction 
by  the  apparatus.  A  process  long  known  but  rarely 


used,  the  gum  print,  was  recognized  as  the  most 
suitable  to  allow  these  alterations  to  be  made.  Since 
the  introduction  of  the  gum  print,  the  development 
of  amateur  photography  has  taken  a  surprising  turn; 
indeed  their  results  have  no  longer  anything  in  com- 
mon with  what  used  to  be  known  as  photography. 
For  that  reason  one  could  proudly  say  these  photo- 
grapers  have  broken  the  tradition  of  the  artificial 
reproduction  of  Nature.  They  have  freed  themselves 
from  photography.  They  have  sought  the  ideal  in  the 
works  of  artists.  They  have  done  away  with  photo- 


127 


121.  Frau  E.  Nothmann.  lIn  the  Garden.''  Photogravure  of  a  gum  print,  c.  1896 
I  129 


sentation  of  details,  so  that  they  can  achieve  simple 
broad  effects.'1 

Bernard  Shaw  had  a  better  grasp  of  what  was 
going  on.  A  staunch  supporter  of  photography  as  an 
art,  he  could  not  deny  that  impressionist  photo- 
graphs had  a  certain  fascination,  yet  he  knew  that  he 
ought  to  condemn  trickery  and  the  critics  who 
hailed  it. 

'When  the  photographer  takes  to  forgery,  the 
press  encourages  him.  The  critics,  being  professional 
connoisseurs  of  the  shiftiest  of  the  old  makeshifts, 
come  to  the  galleries  where  the  forgeries  are  ex- 
hibited. They  find  to  their  relief  that  here,  instead 
of  a  new  business  for  them  to  learn,  is  a  row  of 
monochromes  which  their  old  jargon  fits  like  a  glove. 
Forthwith  they  proclaim  that  photography  has 
become  an  art.'2 

Despite  occasional  criticism,  Shaw  was  so  im- 
pressed by  the  ever-widening  scope  of  art  photo- 
graphy, particularly  after  the  introduction  of 
Lumiere  colour  plates  in  the  'nineties,  that  he  made 

1  Dr  Karl  Voll,  Miinchner  Allgemeine  Zeitung,  I  Decem- 
ber 1898. 

2  G.  Bernard  Shaw,  'The  Unmechanicalness  of  Photo- 
graphy': The  Amateur  Photographer,  9  October  1902. 


the  audacious  prophecy:  'Some  day  the  camera  will 
do  the  work  of  Velasquez  and  Pieter  de  Hoogh, 
colour  and  all.  The  artists  have  still  left  to  them 
invention,  and  for  a  little  while  longer,  colour.  But 
selection  and  representation,  covering  ninety-nine- 
hundredths  of  our  annual  output  of  art,  belong 
henceforth  to  photography.'3  Like  practically  every 
other  art  critic  before  him,  Shaw  fell  into  the  same 
error  of  measuring  the  artistic  merits  of  photo- 
grapy  by  comparison  with  Old  Master  paintings,  and 
in  his  own  inimitable  way  tried  to  confirm  Dela- 
roche's  opinion  that  painting  was  dead.  Speaking  of 
some  photographic  portraits  of  himself,  Shavian  ex- 
aggeration knew  no  bounds:  'Compare  them  with 
the  best  work  with  pencil,  crayon,  brush  or  silver- 
point  you  can  find — with  Holbein's  finest  Tudor 
drawings,  with  Rembrandt's  Saskia,  with  Velasquez' 
Admiral,  with  anything  you  like — if  you  cannot  see 
at  a  glance  that  the  old  game  is  up,  that  the  camera 
has  hopelessly  beaten  the  pencil  and  paintbrush  as 
an  instrument  of  artistic  representation,  then  you 
will  never  make  a  true  critic.'4 

:i  G.    Bernard    Shaw,    The    Amateur  Photographer, 
11  October  1901. 
J  ibid. 


130 


XIV 


IMITATION  PAINTINGS 


In  their  successful  fight  to  win  recognition  for 
photography  as  an  art,  the  photographers  at  the  turn 
of  the  century  had  recourse  to  a  formula  which  had 
proved  successful  in  each  generation:  the  production 
of  photographs  in  which  painters  and  art  critics  find 
the  same  characteristics  that  they  look  for  in  paint- 
ings. (Even  today,  art  critics  too  often  tend  to  value 


122.  Fred  Boissonnas.  'Faust  in  His  Study',  1898 
(reproduction). 


most  those  photographs  that  closely  resemble  paint- 
ings.) Photographers  not  only  freed  themselves  from 
photography,  as  the  Munich  art  critic  paradoxically 
put  it,  but  they  also  sought  the  ideal  in  the  works  of 
artists.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  very  artists  who  had 
found  inspiration  in  photographs  now  inspired  photo- 
graphers, foremost  Degas,  Corot,  Pissarro,  Renoir, 


123.  J.  C.  Strauss.  Photographic  portrait  in  the 
style  of  Frans  Hals,  1904  {reproduction). 


131 


124.  Richard  Polak.  Photograph  in  the  style  of  Pieter  de  Hoogh,  1914 
(reproduction) 


but  few  well-known  mid  and  late  nineteenth- 
century  painters  were  safe  from  photographic  imita- 
tion. Paul  Pichier,  an  Austrian  photographer,  created 
Bocklinesque  landscapes  with  figures  at  San  Vigilio 
on  Lake  Garda  and  at  Ischia  near  Naples,  which  is 
considered  the  original  of  Bocklin's  imaginative 
'Island  of  the  Dead'.  Peasant  interiors — typical  sub- 
jects of  Wilhelm  Leibl — were  favoured  by  other 
Austrian  and  German  photographers.  Men  in  ar- 
mour appeared  a  la  Lovis  Corinth.  Edward  Steichen, 


the  photographer  and  painter,  gave  a  remarkably 
clever  photographic  rendering  of  his  self-portrait 
in  the  style  of  Lenbach,  the  painter  and  photo- 
grapher, etc.  etc. 

Numerous  painters  made  equally  fruitful — or 
fruitless? — use  of  photographs,  but  I  must  resist  the 
temptation  to  be  sidetracked  into  a  discussion  of  the 
interaction  of  painting  and  photography — a  fascin- 
ating subject  that  demands  separate  treatment.  In 
this  review  of  aesthetic  trends  I  must  confine  myself 


132 


125-  Fred  Boissonnas.  'Coming  Home  from  the  Theatre',  c.  1902 


to  mentioning  that  those  who  found  impres- 
sionistic technique  too  difficult  frequently  turned  to 
straightforward  imitation  of  Old  Master  paintings  as 
an  alternative  outlet  for  their  'ability'.  Some  photo- 
graphers specialized  in  portraits  after  Rembrandt, 
Frans  Hals,  Van  Dyck,  Gainsborough,  etc.  The 
Italian  photographer  Guido  Rey  made  genre  pictures 
in  the  style  of  almost  every  century  from  Graeco- 
Roman  tableaux  a  la  Alma-Tadema  to  the  French 
Empire,  a  period  which  also  attracted  the  French 
amateur  C.  Puyo.  The  craze  for  these  aberrations 
was  international.  F.  Boissonnas  of  Geneva  (No.  122) 
and  the  Americans  Richard  Polak  (No.  124)  and 
J.  C.  Strauss  who  started  his  series  'After  the  Old 
Masters'  in  1904  (No.  123)  are  only  a  few  examples. 
Though  taking  the  utmost  pains  to  achieve  historical 
accuracy,  sometimes  to  the  extent  of  making  direct 
imitations  of  a  certain  artist's  style,  no  photographer 


as  far  as  I  know,  except  Rejlander,  ever  attempted 
the  reconstruction  of  a  particular  painting. 

In  his  'Coming  Home  from  the  Theatre'  (No.  125) 
Boissonnas  was  undoubtedly  influenced  by  popular 
pictures  of  similar  subjects,  in  particular,  I  imagine, 
Daumier's  several  well-known  illustrations  of  'The 
First  Class  Carriage'.  There  is  perhaps  some  justifi- 
cation for  Boissonnas'  studio  reconstruction  of  a 
railway  carriage,  because  a  genuine  scene  of  this  kind 
could  not  be  photographed  before  the  introduction 
of  modern  miniature  cameras. 

Even  sacred  subjects  suitable  only  for  the  artist 
with  brush  or  pencil  were  attempted.  Madonnas  and 
saints  more  convincing  than  Mrs  Cameron's  ap- 
peared: Mrs  Barton  portrayed  herself  complete  with 
halo  as  St  Agnes. 

The  Americans  F.  Holland  Day  and  Lejaren  a 
Hiller  (No.  126)  and  L.  Bovier  in  Belgium  depicted 


133 


126.  Lejaren  a  Hiller.  'Deposition  from  the  Cross',  c.  1910 


J 


Entombments  and  Crucifixions— extraordinary  abe: 
rations  of  taste  when  arranged  for  exhibition  pur- 
poses, but  neither  public  nor  photographers  realizec 


that,  however  accomplished,  such  productions 
completely  failed  to  further  the  art  of  photo- 
graphy. 


134 


XV 


THE  AESTHETIC  MOVEMENT 


In  September  1891  a  dispute  about  the  non-hanging 
of  some  photographs  sent  in  late  by  George  Davison 
to  the  Photographic  Society's  annual  exhibition  led 
to  his  resignation.  With  him  went  all  the  naturalistic 
photographers  except  Emerson,  and  even  the  famous 
old  pictorialist  H.  P.  Robinson.  This  was  one  of 
many  secessions  that  occurred  in  the  1890s,  in 


127.  Edward  Steichen.  'Portrait  of  Lady  H.'  Photo- 
gravure of  a  coloured  gum  print,  c.  1910 


painting  as  well  as  in  photography.  Though  personal 
animosities  played  some  part  the  secessionists  had 
all  along  been  dissatisfied  at  the  scientific  bias  the 
Society  had  taken  on  under  its  present  and  previous 
President.  In  May  1892  Alfred  Maskell  founded 
with  fourteen  others  the  Linked  Ring  Brotherhood, 
which  soon  included  the  most  prominent  foreign  as 


128.  Hans  Watzek.  'A  Peasant.'  Photogravure  of  a 
gum  print,  1894 


135 


129.  Theodor  and  Oskar  Hofmeister.  'Great-grand- 
mother? Photogravure  of  a  gum  print,  1897 


well  as  British  artistic  photographers.  It  was  a  loose 
organization  without  a  President  or  Council  and 
anyone  of  marked  artistic  ability  could  be  elected. 
By  1895  the  Linked  Ring  consisted  of  about  forty 
British  and  foreign  members  of  which  the  best 
known  were:  (Britain)  J.  Craig  Annan,  H.  H.  Hay 
Cameron  (son  of  Julia  Margaret  Cameron),  George 
Davison,  Frederick  H.  Evans,  Col  J.  Gale,  A. 
Horsley  Hinton,  Frederick  Hollyer,  Lyddell  Sawyer, 
Frank  Sutcliffe,  J.  B.  B.  Wellington,  B.  Gay  Wilkin- 
son; (France)  Robert  Demachy;  (Austria)  Dr  Hugo 
Henneberg,  Prof  Hans  Watzek;  (America)  Alfred 
Stieglitz. 

A  year  after  the  foundation  of  the  Linked  Ring 
these  independent  amateur  and  professional  photo- 
graphers held  their  first  Salon  at  the  Dudley  Gal- 
lery (formerly  the  Egyptian  Hall)  in  Piccadilly,  Lon- 
don. By  its  success  the  Salon  established  itself  for 
the  next  fifteen  years  as  the  most  important  event  in 
the  photographic  world.  Horsley  Hinton,  editor  of 
The  Amateur  Photographer  and  spokesman  for  the 
Linked  Ring,  never  ceased  in  his  propaganda  for  the 
recognition  of  photography  as  a  means  of  artistic 


expression,  and  his  own  fine  landscapes  lent  force  to 
his  arguments.  A  strong  yet  tolerant  personality, 
Hinton  was  admirably  suited  to  unite  men  of  widely 
differing  interests  and  divergent  views,  a  task  of 
great  importance  considering  that  the  British  group, 
as  initiators  of  the  aesthetic  movement  and  having 
the  longest  tradition  in  pictorial  photography,  were 
looked  upon  as  natural  leaders  by  foreign  amateur 
organizations  that  were  founded  in  Paris,  Vienna, 
Hamburg,  Brussels  and  New  York.  Some  became 
allied  to  the  Linked  Ring  and  so  for  the  first  time 
pictorial  photography  grew  into  an  international 
movement. 

The  French  Salon  formed  by  the  fashionable 
Photo-Club  de  Paris  in  1894  nad  a  similar  effect  in 
France  to  the  Salon  of  the  Linked  Ring  in  England. 
Its  guiding  spirits  were  Robert  Demachy,  Major  C. 
Puyo,  Rene  Le  Begue  and  Maurice  Bucquet. 
Demachy  and  Puyo  with  inventive  genius  and  ele- 
gance of  style— though  not  without  occasional  lapses 
of  taste — portrayed  feminine  grace  and  took  many 
delightful  landscapes  with  figures.  Le  Begue  became 
famous  for  nudes;  Bucquet  depicted  street  life  like  a 
reportage  photographer,  achieving  his  effects  by 
purely  photographic  means. 

The  most  prominent  members  of  the  Vienna 
Camera  Club,  which  organized  its  first  international 
exhibition  in  1891,  were  Heinrich  Kiihn  (No.  115), 
Hugo  Henneberg,  Prof  Hans  Watzek  (No.  128)  and 
Dr  F.  Spitzer. 

Like  most  other  countries  apart  from  Britain  and 
France,  Germany  had  up  to  the  mid-'nineties  made 
no  important  contribution  to  artistic  photography 
outside  the  field  of  portraiture.  Hence  the  few  people 
who  were  conscious  of  this  lack  were  particularly 
vigorous  in  their  support  of  the  aesthetic  movement. 
Ernst  W.  Juhl,  founder  of  the  Society  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Amateur  Photography  in  Hamburg 
and  organizer  of  its  international  exhibitions  from 
1893  to  1903,  and  the  art  historian  Prof  Alfred 
Lichtwark,  director  of  the  Kunsthalle  in  Hamburg, 
were  the  influential  men  behind  it.  Fritz  Matthies- 
Masuren,  author,  photographer,  and  editor  of 
several  photographic  art  magazines,  was  its  leading 
spokesman. 

No  fewer  than  6,000  amateur  photographs  were 
shown  in  the  Hamburg  Kunsthalle  in  1893.  The 
mere  idea  of  a  photographic  exhibition  in  a  leading 
art  gallery  seemed  to  the  public  at  the  time  as  incon- 


131.  Alfred  Stieglitz.  'The  Terminal.'  Photogravure,  1893 


gruous  as  holding  a  scientific  conference  in  a  church. 
But  Lichtwark  made  his  gallery  available  in  the  hope 
that  photography  would  revitalize  painting,  and 
especially  portrait  painting,  which  had  almost  died 
out.  For  the  next  decade  the  Hamburg  exhibition 
established  itself  as  an  annual  event.  In  1899  Hill's 
and  Adamson's  portraits,  seen  for  the  first  time  out- 
side Britain,  were  considered  the  highlight,  despite 
the  fact  that  the  world's  leading  pictorialists  were 
represented  in  force.  It  was  realized  that  artistic 
photography  had  existed  half  a  century  before  the 
modern  aesthetic  movement.  In  these  old  Calotypes, 
explained  Lichtwark,  the  characteristics  of  the  sitter 


had  not  been  interfered  with  by  retouching,  then  in 
vogue  with  professional  photographers,  and  as  long 
as  the  public  demanded  and  received  flattering,  and 
therefore  characterless,  photographic  portraits,  he 
feared  they  would  not  be  able  to  appreciate  truth  in 
painting.  This  was  a  complete  reversal  of  the  situa- 
tion during  the  early  days  of  photography,  when 
photographers  complained  that  they  were  obliged  to 
flatter  the  sitter  because  artists  had  made  people 
accustomed  to  idealized  portraits. 

The  influence  of  the  exhibitions  in  Hamburg  (No. 
132)  and  other  German  cities  was  particularly 
marked  in  photographic  portraiture,  for  in  Germany 


138 


it  was  not  so  much  amateurs  like  the  brothers 
Theodor  and  Oskar  Hofmeister  (No.  129)  as  a  num- 
ber of  professional  portrait  photographers  who  be- 
came the  leading  figures  in  the  aesthetic  movement: 
Rudolf  Duhrkoop  of  Hamburg,  Hugo  Erfurth 
(Dresden)  (No.  130),  Nicola  Perscheid  (Leipzig)  and 
Wilhelm  Weimer  (Darmstadt). 

Within  a  few  years  the  exhibitions  raised  the  stan- 
dard and  status  of  professional  and  amateur  photo- 
graphy to  an  unprecedented  level  in  Germany,  win- 
ning for  it  official  recognition  in  the  highest  circles. 
The  Empress  Frederick  opened  a  big  international 
exhibition  of  artistic  photography  in  the  Reichstag 
building  in  1896,  and  three  years  later  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Art  in  Berlin  opened  its  doors  to  a 
similar  exhibition. 

Lichtwark  and  Juhl  had  every  reason  to  be  satis- 
fied with  the  results  of  their  efforts.  The  former  re- 
ported later  that  Tn  barely  five  years  the  German 


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133.  First  page  of  eight-page  pamphlet  of  the  Inter- 
national Society  of  Pictorial  Photographers,  1904 


132.  Title-page  of  catalogue  of  photographic  exhibition 
held  at  the  Hamburg  Kunsthalle  (Art  Gallery),  1899 


amateur  photographers,  until  then  the  last,  had 
come  to  the  fore  and  brought  to  Germany,  too,  the 
decorative  quality  of  photography  as  manifested  in 
artistic  expression  and  form.'1 

In  Italy  realization  that  the  camera  could  be 
used  creatively  became  apparent  for  the  first  time  at 
a  photographic  exhibition  in  Florence  in  1895.  This 
and  subsequent  exhibitions  of  artistic  photography 
at  Turin  in  1897  and  particularly  in  1900 — the  first 
international  exhibition  of  artistic  photography  to  be 
held  in  Italy — aroused  a  widespread  desire  for 
photographic  picture-making.  Guido  Rey  was  the 
most  prominent  of  the  Italian  pictorialists,  others 
being  Cesare  Schiaparelli,  Giacomo  Grosso  and 
Gatti  Casazza. 

The  dominant  figure  of  the  Cercle  d'Art  Photo- 

'  Alfred  Lichtwark,  foreword  to  Kiinstlerische  Photo- 
graphic: Entwicklung  und  Einfluss  in  Deutschland,  by 
F.  Matthies-Masuren,  Berlin,  1907. 


139 


136.  H.  H.  H.  Cameron.  G.  F.  Watts.  Photogravure,  c.  1892 


137-  Frederick  H.  Evans.  Aubrey  Beardsley.  Platino- 
type,  c.  1895 


graphique  established  in  Brussels  in  1900  was 
Leonard  Misonne.  Like  his  better-known  com- 
patriot Vlaminck,  Misonne  became  noted  for  his 
stormy  views  by  late  afternoon  light.  He  was  a  master 
of  contre-jour  effects,  and  in  many  of  his  landscapes 
the  sun  is  breaking  through  clouds  after  rain.  This 
was  by  no  means  always  the  natural  effect,  for  a  few 
good  sky  negatives  served  Misonne  for  many  gum 
prints  and  bromoils.  Other  well-known  Belgian 
pictorialists  were  C.  Puttemans,  A.  Bourgeois  and 
M.  Vanderkindere. 

Whilst  the  German,  Italian  and  Belgian  groups 
were  not  affiliated  to  the  Linked  Ring,  the  Americans 
under  Alfred  Stieglitz  formed  its  strongest  and  most 
progressive  contingent.  Stieglitz  was  a  consistent 
advocate  of  the  integrity  of  straight  photography 
and  owing  to  his  influence  a  reaction  set  in  in 
America  against  the  manipulated  print,  which  owed 
more  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  photographer  than  to 
photography.  Realizing  that  ordinary  everyday 


scenes  had  not  been  sufficiently  explored,  he  set  out 
to  show  that  this  was  a  field  offering  ample  scope  for 
the  creative  photographer,  without  the  need  to  stoop 
to  any  artifices.  Although  some  of  Stieglitz's  photo- 
graphs taken  in  the  1890s  still  show  a  certain  influ- 
ence of  impressionism  in  his  preference  for  street 
scenes  in  wet  or  snowy  weather  {No.  131)  or  Monet- 
like railway  stations — his  approach  was  photo- 
graphic. 

Since  his  aims  clashed  with  the  more  conven- 
tional outlook  of  the  New  York  Camera  Club,  of 
which  he  was  Vice-President,  Stieglitz  founded  in 
1902  the  Photo-Secession,  with  Alvin  Langdon 
Coburn,  Frank  Eugene,  Gertrude  Kasebier,  Edward 
Steichen,  Clarence  H.  White  and  forty-one  others. 
Some  of  the  secessionists  still  clung  to  the  controlled 
printing  processes,  foremost  Edward  Steichen  {No. 
119)  and  Coburn;  others  shared  their  leader's  belief 
in  straightforward  technique.  All  were  agreed  on  two 
fundamental  principles:  the  desirability  of  exploring 
photographic  subject  matter,  and  of  concentration 
on  rendering  the  subtleties  of  light. 

'Let  us  use  our  instrument  for  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  intended:  let  us  concentrate  on  doing 
the  thing  that  we  can  do  best,  and  not  prostitute  our 
medium  by  trying  to  do  what  we  can  accomplish  only 
in  a  lesser  degree,  but  what  other  mediums  do  easily 
and  well.  Let  us  do  to  the  best  of  our  ability  that 
thing  in  which  no  other  worker  can  rival  us.  Light, 
light,  always  light!  .  .  .  See  and  record  its  delicacy 
and  daintiness  in  the  upper  ranges,  its  sombre  play 
in  the  darks,  its  strength  and  vigour  in  the  full  scale, 
its  infinite  gradations,  its  infinite  variety.  .  .  .  Ever 
and  always  use  light  to  express  your  thought.'1 

Camera  Work,  the  Photo- Secession's  luxuriously 
produced  quarterly  journal,  was  started  by  Stieglitz 
in  January  1903  with  the  purpose  of  winning  recog- 
nition for  photography  as  art  by  publishing  the  work 
of  leading  contemporary  American  and  European 
pictorial  photographers.  From  1908  onward  he  made 
the  magazine  the  propaganda  platform  for  modern 
art  in  general,  for  to  him  all  manifestations  of  it  were 
equally  important.  With  Edward  Steichen  he  opened 
in  November  1905  the  Photo-Secession  Gallery  at 
291  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York — later  called  simply 
'291' — for  shows  of  the  controversial  Photo- Seces- 
sion Group  and  leading  European  photographers  of 

1  Paul  L.  Anderson,  'Some  Pictorial  History':  American 
Photography,  Boston,  Vol.  xxix,  No.  4,  April  1935. 

142 


138.  Clarence  H.  White.  'Lady  in  Black:  Photogravure,  1898 


139-  Alice  Hughes.  The  Arch-Duchess  Stephanie  (widow  of  Arch-Duke  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg).  Platinotype,  1905 


the  aesthetic  movement.  Gradually  he  extended  its 
scope  to  champion  anyone  breaking  new  ground  in 
art.  Stieglitz's  artistic  perception  was  far  in  advance 
of  that  of  his  contemporaries  and  made  him  the 
greatest  protagonist  of  modern  photography  and 
modern  art  in  the  United  States.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  whilst  the  work  of  the  artists  still  looks  modern 
today,  that  of  the  photographers  is — with  a  few  ex- 
ceptions— dated.  The  illustrations  in  Camera  Work 
prove  that  the  majority  of  Stieglitz's  followers  fall  far 
short  of  his  ideals,  and  one  is  sometimes  puzzled  how 
he  could  possibly  have  accepted  their  work  so  whole- 
heartedly. For  most  of  it  is  arty,  much  of  it  senti- 
mental, and  some  of  it  in  questionable  taste.  The 
over-enthusiasm  and  conceit  of  the  Photo- Secession- 
ists knew  no  bounds.  It  is  surprising  that  a  serious 
editor  could  have  passed  for  publication  such  ludi- 
crous remarks  as:  'One  should  not  say  he  [SteichcnJ 
recalls  Rembrandt  but  rather  at  this  rate  Rembrandt 
will,  in  time,  remind  us  of  Steichen.' 

With  the  help  of  Steichen,  who  lived  at  the  time 
in  Paris,  Stieglitz  introduced  to  America  the  work 
of  many  now  famous  artists:  Rodin  drawings  and 
works  by  Matisse  (1908),  John  Marin  and  Toulouse- 
Lautrec  lithographs  (1909),  Henri  Rousseau  and 
Cezanne  (1910),  Picasso  (191 1),  Picabia  (1913), 
Brancusi  and  Braque  (1914),  Severini  (1917).  Stieg- 
litz also  arranged  the  first  exhibitions  in  the  world  of 
child  art  (1912)  and  Negro  sculpture  (1914)  and 
furthered  the  development  of  what  was  later  called 
Dadaism  by  publishing  the  magazine  '291'  during 
1915-16.  De  Zayas,  Picabia,  Picasso,  Max  Jacob  and 
Appollinaire  were  among  the  contributors,  apart 
from  Stieglitz  and  Steichen. 

With  his  ever-increasing  bias  towards  avant- 
garde  art  in  Camera  Work  and  at  '291',  the  autocrat 
of  the  Photo-Secession  alienated  most  of  its  mem- 
bers. One  of  them  has  described  the  shocked  re- 
action of  Americans  to  the  paintings  of  blobby  green 
females  reclining  on  purple  grass;  magenta  oceans 
and  blue  sunlight;  paintings  by  children — and  imbe- 
cile children  at  that;  paintings  of  such  a  nature  that 
only  the  maker  could  tell  what  they  represented,  and 
he  had  forgotten;  pictures  of  the  nightmares  of 
delirium  tremens;  and  pictures  representing  nothing 
that  ever  existed  in  the  heavens  above,  or  the  earth 
beneath'.1  No  wonder,  then,  that  by  191 7  the  sub- 

1  Paul  L.  Anderson,  'Some  Pictorial  History':  American 
Photography,  Boston,  Vol.  xxix,  No.  4,  April  1935. 

K 


140.  H.  Walter  Barnett.  Mrs  Saxton  Noble.  Platino- 
type,  c.  1908 


scribers  to  Camera  Work  had  dwindled  to  thirty-six, 
and  with  America's  entry  into  the  war  both  magazine 
and  gallery  closed  down.  However,  in  1925  Stieglitz 
renewed  his  influential  activities  at  'The  Intimate 
Gallery'  and  later  at  'An  American  Place',  New  York. 

In  Europe,  the  American  Photo-Secession  exerted 
considerable  influence  by  participating  in  various 
international  exhibitions  of  pictorial  photography. 
In  1904  the  English,  French,  German/ Austrian  and 
American  groups  combined  in  the  formation  of  the 
International  Society  of  Pictorial  Photographers  'to 
conserve  and  advance  photography  as  an  indepen- 
dent medium  of  pictorial  expression'  (No.  133).  Its 
first  and  only  president  was  J.  Craig  Annan  of  Glas- 
gow. The  Society  was  a  grand  alliance  held  together 
by  a  common  purpose,  though  there  was  a  con- 
siderable divergence  of  opinion  as  to  what  consti- 
tuted artistic  photography. 

Pictorial  photographers  at  that  period  can  be 
divided  into  three  categories: 
(1)  A  minority  were  purists  in  the  full  sense.  They 


142.  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn.  Reflections.  Photogravure,  1908 


143-  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn.  W.  B.  Yeats.  Photo- 
gravure, 1908 


imbued  ordinary  subjects — landscapes,  architecture, 
portraits,  and  everyday  scenes — with  an  artistic 
quality  based  solely  on  sensitive  interpretation,  and 
rejected  manual  interference  with  negative  or  posi- 
tive. Their  prints  were  usually  made  on  platinum 
paper,  though  hand-made  photo-etchings  and  photo- 
gravures were  also  favoured.  To  this  group  belonged 
J.  Craig  Annan  (No.  134),  Maurice  Bucquet  (No. 
135),  H.  H.  H.  Cameron  (No.  136),  Frederick  H. 
Evans  (No.  137),  Frederick  H.  Hollyer  (No.  145), 
H.  C.  Rubincam,  Alfred  Sticglitz  and  Clarence  H. 
White  (Nos.  138  and  144),  Alice  Hughes  (No.  139), 
H.  Walter  Barnett  (No.  140). 

(2)  The  majority  took  similar  subjects  but  made  full 
use  of  the  possibilities  of  modifying  the  negative 
image  in  the  positive  print.  In  addition  to  the  gum 
print,  a  number  of  other  controlled  printing  tech- 
niques were  introduced.  Of  these,  the  oil  process 
(1904)  (No.  141)  and  the  bromoil  method  (1907) 
were  the  most  important. 

(3)  Some  photographers  strove  for  impressionistic 
effects  by  optical  means  alone.  Usually  the  negative 
was  taken  out  of  focus  and  hand-photogravure  em- 


ployed as  the  printing  process.  (Nos.  142,  143,  144.) 

Alvin  Langdon  Coburn,  a  Boston  painter  and  a 
member  of  the  Photo-Secession  and  the  Linked 
Ring,  in  1906  established  his  reputation  as  a  photo- 
grapher in  England  with  a  one-man  show  at  the 
Royal  Photographic  Society,  which  included  a  good 
many  portraits  of  famous  men,  including  G.  B. 
Shaw,  who  wrote  the  foreword  to  the  catalogue: 

'Mr  Coburn  can  handle  you  as  Bellini  handled 
everybody  .  .  .  according  to  his  vision  of  you.  He  is 
free  of  that  clumsy  tool— the  human  hand  .  .  .  and 
takes  full  advantage  of  his  freedom,  instead  of  con- 
tenting himself,  like  most  photographers,  with  a 
formula  that  becomes  almost  as  tiresome  and 
mechanical  as  manual  work  with  a  brush  or  crayon.' 

Whilst  Coburn  admirably  brought  out  the  char- 
acter of  his  sitters,  his  portraits  would,  in  my  opinion, 
gain  in  vigour  if  they  were  less  impressionistic  and 
more  like  Bellini's.  But  he  had  the  right  outlook.  In 
another  one-man  show,  at  the  Goupil  Gallery  in 


144.  Clarence  H.  White.  'In  the  Orchard:  Photo- 
gravure, 1902 


147 


London  in  1913,  he  included  five  photographs  en- 
titled 'New  York  from  its  Pinnacles'.  Realizing  that 
the  novelty  of  these  bird's-eye  views  might  puzzle 
the  public,  Coburn  persuasively  asked  in  the  cata- 
logue foreword:  'Why  should  not  the  camera  artist 


break  away  from  the  outworn  conventions,  that  even 
in  its  comparatively  short  existence  have  begun  to 
cramp  and  restrict  his  medium,  and  claim  the  free- 
dom of  expression  which  any  art  must  have  to  be 
alive?' 


145.  Frederick  H.  Hollyer.  Aubrey  Beardsley,  1896 


148 


XVI 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  MODERN  PHOTOGRAPHY 


Alfred  Stieglitz's  photographs  'Going  to  the  Post' 
(No.  146)  and  'The  Steerage'  (No.  149)  are  land- 
marks on  the  road  to  modern  photography.  So  are 
'The  Circus  Rider'  (No.  147)  by  Harry  C.  Rubincam, 
another  of  the  Photo-Secessionists,  and  above  all  the 
photographs  of  Paul  Strand,  who  is  in  my  opinion 
the  most  progressive — and  incidentally  the  last — 
photographer  to  have  an  exhibition  at  the  Photo- 
Secession  Gallery.  In  devoting  the  last  issue  of 
Camera  Work  entirely  to  Strand's  photographs, 
Stieglitz  explained: 

'In  the  history  of  photography  there  are  but  few 
photographers  who,  from  the  point  of  view  of  ex- 
pression, have  really  done  work  of  any  importance. 
And  by  importance  we  mean  work  that  has  some 
relatively  lasting  quality,  that  element  which  gives  all 
art  its  real  significance.  .  .  .  Paul  Strand  has  added 
something  to  what  has  gone  before.  The  work  is 
brutally  direct.  Devoid  of  all  flim-flam;  devoid  of 
trickery  and  of  any  "ism";  devoid  of  any  attempt  to 
mystify  an  ignorant  public,  including  the  photo- 
graphers themselves.  These  photographs  are  the 
direct  expression  of  today.'1 

A  greater  contrast  than  Paul  Strand's  original, 
unaffected,  straightforward  photographs  of  1915-16 
and  the  arty  work  of  the  aesthetic  movement,  which 
was  an  evasion  of  everything  truly  photographic,  can 
hardly  be  imagined.  Strand  brought  a  new  vision  to 
photography,  discovering  in  the  most  ordinary  ob- 
jects significant  forms  full  of  aesthetic  appeal.  Nearly 
all  his  pictures  broke  new  ground  both  in  subject  mat- 
ter and  in  its  presentation.  The  white  fence  running 
across  the  entire  width  of  the  picture  (No.  148)  in- 
tentionally destroys  all  effect  of  perspective.  A  ram- 

1  A.  Stieglitz,  Camera  Work,  Nos.  49-5°>  June  1917. 


shackle  suburban  scene  (No.  150),  the  backyard  of  a 
New  York  house  in  winter,  a  vertical  view  from  a 
suspension  bridge  showing  its  shadow  on  the  road 
beneath,  were  new  kinds  of  subject.  In  the  almost 
abstract  design  of  kitchen  bowls  (No.  151)  and  the 
shadow  of  railings  Strand  showed  for  the  first  time 
the  effectiveness  of  rhythmic  repetition  in  pat- 


146.  Alfred  Stieglitz.  'Going  to  the  Post.'  Photo- 
gravure, 1904 

149 


149-  Alfred  SHeglitZ,  'The  Steerage:  Photogravure,  1907 


150.  Paul  Strand.  New  York.  Photogravure,  19 15 

tern.  The  bowls  and  other  experiments  in  abstrac- 
tion were  the  result  of  Strand's  seeing  at  '291'  the 
work  of  Picasso,  Braque,  Brancusi  and  others. 

T  was  trying  to  apply  their  then  strange  abstract 
principles  to  photography  in  order  to  understand 
them.  Once  understanding  what  the  aesthetic  ele- 
ments of  a  picture  were,  I  tried  to  bring  this  know- 
ledge to  objective  reality  in  the  "White  Fence",  the 
"Viaduct"  and  other  New  York  photographs.  Nor 
have  I  ever  returned  to  pure  abstraction,  as  it  had  no 
further  meaning  for  me  in  itself.  On  the  other  hand, 
subject  matter  all  around  me  seemed  inexhaustible. 
I  began  to  explore  the  close-up.  The  portraits  of 
New  York  street  characters  {No.  152)  represent 
another  trend  in  experimentation.  This  was  to 
photograph  people  without  their  being  conscious  of 
being  photographed.  The  technique  I  used  at  the 
time  was  a  false  lens  screwed  to  the  side  of  my 
3}  in.  X4I  in.  camera.'1 

1  Extract  from  a  letter  from  Paul  Strand  to  Helmut 
Gernsheim,  15  December  i960. 


151.  Paul  Strand.  Abstract  pattern  made  by  bowls. 
Photogravure,  191 5 

Strand's  New  York  street  scenes  and  characters 
and  other  everyday  subjects  are  wonderfully  alive, 
fragments  of  the  kaleidoscopic  variety  of  appearances 
which  are  so  familiar  that  one  is  apt  to  overlook  their 
photographic  potentialities.  They  owe  their  vitality 
and  expressiveness  to  the  photographer's  personal 
taste  and  artistic  knowledge,  showing  the  facts  fil- 
tered through  the  subjectivity  of  the  artist.  Yet  what 
makes  these  photographs  so  striking  is  their  appar- 
ent objectivity. 

'This  objectivity  is  of  the  very  essence  of  photo- 
graphy, its  contribution  and  at  the  same  time  its 
limitation.  The  photographer's  problem  is  to  see 
clearly  the  limitations  and  at  the  same  time  the 
potential  qualities  of  his  medium,  for  it  is  precisely 
here  that  honesty  no  less  than  intensity  of  vision  is 
the  pre-requisite  of  a  living  expression.  The  fullest 
realization  of  this  is  accomplished  without  tricks  of 
process  or  manipulation,  through  the  use  of  straight 
photographic  methods.'2 

«  Paul  Strand,  Camera  Work,  Nos.  49-50,  June  1917. 


152 


153-  John  Thomson.  Street  locksmith,  1876 

Paul  Strand  was  bringing  back  the  original  but 
long-forgotten  conception  of  photography: 

'Look  at  the  things  around  you,  the  immediate 
world  around  you.  If  you  are  alive,  it  will  mean 
something  to  you,  and  if  you  care  enough  about 
photography,  and  if  you  know  how  to  use  it,  you  will 
want  to  photograph  that  meaningness.  If  you  let 
other  people's  vision  get  between  the  world  and 
your  own,  you  will  achieve  that  extremely  common 
and  worthless  thing,  a  pictorial  photograph.'1 

Paul  Strand  was  as  lucid  and  direct  in  his  writing 
as  in  his  photographs.  He  was  more  articulate  in  his 
views  as  to  what  constituted  true  photography  than 
anyone  before  him.  His  approach  was  intellectual. 
Nevertheless  there  were  a  few  photographers  in 
England  and  France  who  had  already  arrived  at  the 
same  goal  by  instinct.  Remaining  aloof  from  photo- 
graphic exhibitions,  they  did  not  become  self-con- 
scious about  the  art  claims  of  photography  and 
consequently  used  the  camera  as  objectively  as 
Strand,  or  for  that  matter  as  the  first  generation  of 


1  Paul  Strand,  'The  Art  Motive  in  Photography' 
British  Journal  of  Photography,  1923,  p.  613. 


The 


photographers.  Owing  to  the  circumstance,  how- 
ever, that  they  worked  quietly  for  their  own  satisfac- 
tion, their  excellent  pictures  remained  unknown  at 
the  time,  whilst  those  of  exhibitors  were  discussed  in 
photographic  journals  and  reproduced  in  one  form 
or  another. 

In  their  directness  and  aesthetic  appeal  John 
Thomson's  photographs  of  street  life  in  London  in 
1876  are  on  a  par  with  those  of  New  York  taken  by 
Paul  Strand  forty  years  later.  Thomson's  purpose 
was  not  to  make  pictures  but  to  document  the  life  of 
the  poor,  but  the  artistic  impact  of  his  photographs 
is  no  less  immediate.  His  book  Street  Life  in  London 
(1877)  may  be  considered  a  sequel  to  Henry  May- 
hew's  monumental  social  survey.  The  thirty-six 
illustrations  are  particularly  valuable  in  showing 
street  traders  in  their  natural  surroundings,  each 
photograph  being  accompanied  by  an  article  on  the 
life  and  conditions  of  the  subject:  street  musicians,  a 
shoe-shine,  a  quack  doctor,  a  locksmith  (No.  153),  a 
chimney  sweep,  an  old  clothes  dealer,  a  bus  con- 
ductor, Italian  ice  cream  seller,  recruiting  sergeants, 
etc.  In  the  down-and-out  woman  who  looked  after 
the  babies  of  working  women  (No.  154)  Thomson 
has  caught  the  misery  of  semi-starvation,  producing  a 
picture  that  could  not  be  improved  upon  today. 

As  pointed  out  in  Chapter  XI,  some  amateurs  had 
discovered  long  before  the  art  photographers  the 
fascination  of  spontaneous  photographs  that  capture 
a  slice  of  life,  and  Paul  Martin  and  F.  W.  Mills  are 
the  classic  examples  of  candid  camera-men  active 
long  before  that  expression  came  into  use.  With  a 
'detective'  camera  got  up  to  look  like  a  parcel  and 
a  reflex  camera  respectively,  they  roamed  in  the  mid- 
nineties  the  streets  of  London  and  the  beaches  of 
Yarmouth  and  other  popular  seaside  resorts,  to  cap- 
ture unobserved  revealing  moments  (No.  155)  and 
the  expressions  of  people  enjoying  themselves  (No. 
156).  Hampstead  Heath  on  Bank  Holiday,  a  Punch 
and  Judy  show,  children  dancing  to  a  barrel-organ, 
the  Crystal  Palace  grounds  at  Sydenham,  etc.,  pro- 
vided many  intimate  pictures,  and  in  every  case  it  is 
obvious  that  no  one  suspected  that  the  ordinary- 
looking  parcel,  which  Martin  carried  so  carefully, 
concealed  the  all-seeing  eye  of  a  camera. 

Similar  candid  street  life  photographs  were  taken 
about  the  same  period  by  an  unknown  photographer 
in  New  York  (No.  157)  and  by  Maurice  Bucquet 
(No.  135)  and  Eugene  Atget  in  Paris.  With  the  excep- 


i54 


154.  Jonn  Thomson.  Poor  woman  with  baby-,  1876 


159-  Engine  Atget.  Tree  roots  at  St  Cloud,  c.  1905 


tion  of  Bucquet,  a  member  of  the  Photo  Club  of 
Paris,  none  of  these  photographers  was  concerned 
with  photography  as  an  art. 

Atget  was  obsessed  by  the  need  to  document 
everything  of  interest  in  a  Paris  that  was  vanishing. 
Whereas  others  extolled  the  grandeur  of  the  capital, 
Atget's  interest  inclined  towards  the  unattractive 
and  even  seamy  side  of  the  metropolis.  His  pictures 
include  every  kind  of  street  trader  from  an  umbrella 
seller  to  a  prostitute  {No.  158);  every  kind  of 


wheeled  vehicle  from  a  baker's  barrow  to  a  cab; 
curious  shop  window  displays  (No.  160),  the  gaudy 
and  fantastic  decorations  of  shop  signs  and  merry- 
go-rounds;  the  narrow  streets  of  Montmartre  and  of 
the  Quartier  Latin;  porticoes,  staircases,  door- 
knockers, wrought-iron  grilles,  and  ornate  stucco 
ornamentation  of  houses  that  had  seen  better  days — 
all  caught  Atget's  roving  eye  and  were  documented 
for  posterity  in  thousands  of  photographs.  With  the 
same  zeal  he  took  numerous  views  of  the  beautiful 


158 


i6o.  Eugene  Atget.  Corset  shop  in  the  Boulevard  de  Strasbourg,  Paris,  c.  1905 


gardens  and  statues  of  the  Palais  du  Luxembourg, 
Versailles,  Fontainebleau  and  St  Cloud.  Above  all, 
Atget  loved  the  close-up,  recognizing  it  as  the  most 
characteristic  form  of  photography  expressing  the 
very  quintessence  of  the  object.  His  work  includes 
countless  close-ups  of  unusual  forms  and  patterns  of 
flowers  and  gnarled  tree  roots  (No.  159)  that  were  to 
become  favourite  themes  with  Renger-Patzsch,  Paul 
Strand,  Weston  and  others  in  the  1920s,  but  had  only 
occasionally  attracted  photographers  in  earlier  periods. 
Only  a  man  with  enormous  faith  could  have  pur- 


sued his  aims  so  singlemindedly,  for  Atget  received 
little  encouragement  from  official  circles  and  lived 
the  life  of  a  recluse  in  extreme  poverty.  After  his 
death  in  1927  about  ten  thousand  photographs, 
neatly  numbered  and  classified,  were  found  in  his 
flat.  At  the  time  few  people  could  comprehend  their 
purpose  but  today  Atget's  influence  is  apparent  in  all 
modern  documentary  photography.  He  has  even 
been  called  'the  father  of  modern  social  documenta- 
tion', though  this  designation  would  be  more  cor- 
rectly accorded  to  John  Thomson. 


161.  W.H.  Fox  Talbot.  Calotype  of  lace,  1842 


160 


XVII 


PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  THE  RETORT 


At  the  end  of  World  War  I  cynicism,  disillusion- 
ment, and  contempt  for  the  established  order  led  not 
only  to  political  upheavals  but  also  to  a  disintegra- 
tion of  accepted  conventions  in  art.  It  was  a  trend 
that  had  started  well  before  the  war  with  the 
Cubists,  Futurists,  Expressionists  and  les  Fauves, 
who  cast  traditional  rules  of  composition  and  colour- 
ing aside  in  their  search  for  new  forms  of  expression. 


Under  the  influence  of  his  friend  the  Cubist  painter 
Max  Weber,  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn  felt  a  similar 
urge  to  experiment.  'I  do  not  think  we  have  even 
begun  to  realize  the  possibilities  of  the  camera'  he 
told  photographic  colleagues  in  1916.  'The  beauty  of 
design  displayed  by  the  microscope  seems  to  me  a 
wonderful  field  to  explore  from  the  purely  pictorial 
point  of  view.'  And  he  expressed  the  hope  that  photo- 


162.  Paul  Strand.  Shadow  pattern.  Photogravure,  1916 
l  161 


163.  Alvin  Langdon  Coburn.  Vortograph:  the 
first  abstract  photograph,  January  19 17 

164.  Christian  Schad.  Schadograph,  i960. 
{Replica  specially  made  for  this  book) 


graphy  might  fall  in  line  with  all  the  other  arts  and 
'with  her  infinite  possibilities  do  things  stranger  and 
more  fascinating  than  the  most  fantastic  dreams.  .  .  . 
I  want  to  see  photography  alive  to  the  spirit  of  pro- 
gress; if  it  is  not  possible  to  be  "modern"  with  the 
newest  of  all  the  arts,  we  had  better  bury  our  black 
boxes.'1  As  a  start  Coburn  suggested  an  exhibition  of 
abstract  photography  to  which  no  work  would  be 
admitted  in  which  the  interest  of  the  subject  was 
greater  than  the  appreciation  of  the  extraordinary. 
Such  a  photograph  is  Paul  Strand's  kitchen  bowls 
(No.  151)  and  his  shadow  pattern  (No.  162),  both 
dating  from  1916. 

Coburn  experimented  with  multiple  exposures  on 
the  same  plate  and  with  the  use  of  prisms  for  the 
splitting  of  images  into  segments,  by  placing  the 
camera  lens  inside  an  arrangement  of  three  mirrors 
forming  a  triangle,  through  which  bits  of  wood, 
crystals  and  other  objects  were  photographed.  In  this 
way  he  created  in  January  1917  the  first  abstract 
photographs,  which  he  called  'Vortographs'  (No. 
163),  after  Vorticist,  a  term  devised  by  Ezra  Pound 
to  denote  a  group  of  painters  and  poets  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  chief  exponents.  The  following  month 
eighteen  Vortographs  were  shown  together  with  thir- 
teen of  Coburn's  paintings  at  the  London  Camera 
Club.2  The  catalogue  foreword  was  by  Ezra  Pound. 

A  year  later  some  members  of  the  Zurich  Dada 
group  turned  to  photography,  trying  to  mould  it  to 
their  own  ends.  Christian  Schad,  a  German  painter, 
made  abstract  designs  somewhat  on  the  lines  of  Fox 
Talbot's  photogenic  drawing  process  by  laying  flat 
opaque  or  semi-transparent  objects  and  strips  of 
ordinary  paper  on  photographic  plates  or  photo- 
graphic paper  and  exposing  them  to  a  light-source 
that  could  be  veiled  or  shaded  (No.  164).  Whereas 
Talbot  had  only  been  concerned  with  copying  plants, 
feathers,  lace,  etc.  (No.  161),  Schad  felt  that  this 
technique  offered  great  possibilities  for  creating 
interesting  designs  simply  and  cheaply.  Tristan 
Tzara,  the  spokesman  of  the  Dada  group,  called 
these  compositions  'Schadographs'  after  their  origin- 
ator (not  'Shadowgraphs'  as  they  are  sometimes 
mistakenly  called). 

'Schadographs  were  made  at  a  period  when  I  had 
a  liking  for  any  trifles  that  could  be  picked  up  in  the 

1  Alvin  Longdon  Coburn,  'The  Future  of  Pictorial 
Photography':  Photograms  of  the  Year,  1916. 

2  Two  Vortographs  w  re  published  for  the  first  time 
in  The  Sketch,  14  March  1917. 


street,  in  shop  window  displays,  in  cafes,  and  even 
in  dustbins.  Most  of  these  objects  I  found  attractive 
and  useful,  particularly  if  they  were  damaged.  Then 
they  had  a  patina,  and  held  a  kind  of  magic  for  me. 
Having  found  them,  it  was  a  matter  of  making  a 
composition  in  such  a  way  that  something  new  re- 
sulted, and  a  fresh  immediate  reality  emerged.  An 
unimportant  object  can  take  on  a  new  form  by  being 
worked  upon,  distorted,  made  into  a  collage,  or 
turned  upside  down.  It  all  depends!  There  are  a 
great  many  possibilities  of  varying  the  effect,  for  one 
can  also  draw  or  paint  on  the  composition.'3 

George  Grosz  and  John  Heartfield  in  1915  revived 
photo-montage  in  a  new  combination  of  photo- 
graphy with  graphic  art  and  painting.  In  this  they 

3  Description  of  Schadographs  sent  to  Helmut  Gerns- 
heim  in  August  i960. 


165.  Photo-montage,  c.  1868 


163 


i66.  Man  Ray.  Rayograph,  1921 

had  possibly  been  inspired  by  mid  nineteenth-cen- 
tury photo-montages  in  which  cut-out  photographs 
were  either  combined  with  one  another  to  make  a 
new  composition  (see  H.  P.  Robinson,  page  81)  or — 
more  usually — pasted  on  a  watercolour.  A  painted 
landscape  was  peopled  with  photographic  figures 
either  in  a  naturalistic  way  (No.  165),  or  an  inten- 
tionally incongruous  or  surrealist  effect  was  sought 
(see  Chapter  XIX).  Never  before,  however,  had 
photo-montages  resulted  in  such  a  completely  mad 
jumble  as  those  of  the  Dadaists  and  Surrealists,  par- 
ticularly Max  Ernst  and  Kurt  Schwitters,  who  also 
tried  his  hand  at  photograms.  In  the  attempt  to  des- 
troy all  visual  illusion,  and  to  shock  the  conven- 
tional, disjointed  pieces  of  photographs  were  com- 
bined with  torn-off  bits  of  newspaper,  or  stuck  on 
canvas  without  any  apparent  relation  to  the  painting. 

In  1 92 1  Man  Ray,  the  American  abstract  painter 
and  Dadaist,  settled  in  Paris,  and  hearing  from 
Tristan  Tzara  of  Christian  Schad's  'Schadographs' 
with  flat  objects,  started  experimenting  by  placing 
three-dimensional  opaque  and  translucent  objects 


on  photographic  paper.  In  these  abstract  patterns  of 
light  and  shade,  appropriately  called  'Rayographs', 
the  physical  form  of  the  objects  is  reproduced  more 
or  less  recognizably,  but  the  negative  image  inevit- 
ably and  intentionally  lacks  any  gradation  of  tone 
(No.  166). 

The  following  year  Tzara  showed  Laszlo  Moholy- 
Nagy,  a  Hungarian  abstract  painter  living  in  Berlin, 
a  set  of  twelve  'Rayographs'  Man  Ray  had  just  pub- 
lished, to  which  he,  Tzara,  had  contributed  a  pre- 
face.1 Moholy-Nagy  was  very  impressed  by  these 
novel  abstract  light-pictures  and  at  once  set  to  work 
to  produce  similar  designs  with  three-dimensional 
objects  which  he  called  'photograms'  (No.  167). 

1  Champs  Delicicux,  an  album  of  twelve  Rayographs 
by  Man  Ray,  with  preface  by  Tristan  Tzara  (limited  to 
40  copies),  Paris,  1922. 


167.  L.  Moholy-Nagy.  Photogram,  1922 


164 


i68.  Man  Ray.  Solarization,  1931 


Five  or  six  years  later  Man  Ray,  who  was  then 
making  his  living  chiefly  by  photography — repro- 
ducing paintings  by  leading  modern  artists  and  tak- 
ing their  portraits— accidentally  stumbled  upon 
solarization.  The  partial  reversal  of  the  negative 
into  a  positive  image  by  a  short  exposure  to  light 
during  development  is  a  physical  phenomenon  due 
to  extreme  over-exposure,  and  known  since  1862  as 
the  Sabattier  effect.  Attracted  by  the  graphic  design 
he  obtained,  Man  Ray  in  lengthy  experimentation 
sought  to  bring  the  fault  under  control  so  that  he 
could  deliberately  use  it  for  the  sake  of  artistic  effect. 
In  this  way  he  produced  some  fascinating  designs 
{No.  168). 

In  1923  the  architect  Walter  Gropius  invited 


Moholy-Nagy  to  join  the  teaching  staff  of  the 
Bauhaus,  the  experimental  art  school  which  he  had 
founded  in  Weimar  in  191 8.  Gropius  aimed  at  re- 
storing the  unity  of  all  the  arts  in  the  service  of 
architecture,  reverting  to  the  idea  of  the  medieval 
cathedral  on  which  architects,  stained-glass  artists, 
sculptors,  painters,  woodcarvers,  metal-workers  and 
other  craftsmen  had  worked  collectively.  In  the  same 
spirit  Gropius  and  his  staff  of  distinguished  avant- 
garde  artists —  Paul  Klee,  Wassily  Kandinsky,  Lyonel 
Feininger,  Herbert  Bayer,  Oskar  Schlemmer  and 
others — worked  as  a  team  in  close  collaboration  with 
one  another  and  their  students.  Many  features  of 
modern  architecture  and  industrial  design  had  their 
origin  at  the  Bauhaus. 


170.  Andre  Kertesz.  Study  of  distortion,  1934  {repro- 
duction) 

Moholy-Nagy,  whose  activities  ranged  from  metal- 
work  and  designs  for  plastics  to  typography,  added 
a  class  on  photography  to  the  other  art  and  craft 
subjects  taught,  with  the  primary  intention  of  in- 
vestigating the  potentialities  of  photography  as  ap- 
plied to  other  branches  of  art.  His  special  interest  lay 
in  the  relationship  of  painting,  photography,  and 
film,  to  which  he  added  the  'typophoto' — the  com- 
bination of  the  printed  word  with  a  photograph  in 
layout  and  advertising.  He  expounded  his  theories 
on  the  future  of  photography  in  his  Bauhaus  book 
Malerei,  Photographie,  Film  (1925)  and  in  an  essay 
published  in  Das  Deutsche  Lichtbild,1  a  photographic 
year-book  of  the  less  conventional  type.  In  1929  the 
Bauhaus  and  the  German  Werkbund  arranged  an 
important  Film  and  Photo  Exhibition  in  Stuttgart.  It 
was  the  first  international  exhibition  demonstrating 
the  new  vision,  and  over  a  thousand  tradition-shatter- 
ing photographs,  many  of  them  of  the  kind  advocated 

1  L.  Moholy-Nagy,  'Die  Beispiellose  Fotografie':  Das 
Deutsche  Lichtbild,  Vol.  I,  Berlin,  1927. 


171.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  One  seed  of  a  dandelion 
(3SXmag.),  1936 

by  Moholy-Nagy,  were  shown.  A  selection  of 
seventy-six  was  published  the  same  year  in  a  book 
called  Photo  Auge  (Photo  Eye)  with  text  by  Franz 
Roh. 

These  various  publications  demonstrated  the  great 
variety  of  possibilities  which  Moholy-Nagy  envis- 
aged 'for  creating  a  more  complex  language  of 
photography':  angle  shots  (No.  169),  deliberate  dis- 
tortions (No.  170),  exaggeration  of  texture,  super- 
position of  photographs  or  multiple  exposures  on 
one  negative,  aerial  photographs  giving  a  pattern 
effect,  solarization,  negative  prints,  non-medical  X- 
ray  photographs,  astronomical  photographs,  photo- 
micrographs (photographs  of  minute  objects  taken 
through  the  microscope),  photomacrographs  (over- 
life-size  photographs  of  small  objects  taken  with  an 
ordinary  camera),  reticulation  (breaking  up  the 
emulsion  by  the  application  of  heat),  abstract  photo- 
graphs without  the  use  of  a  camera  (photograms, 
Schadographs  and  Rayographs),  photo-montages 
and  'typophotos'.  Undeniably  these  revolutionary 


experiments  extended  the  boundaries  of  photo- 
graphy and  uprooted  outworn  conventions.  Most  of 
them  were  achieved  by  purely  chemical  or  optical 
techniques  and  so  could  not  be  objected  to  on  photo- 
graphic grounds.  Yet  many  were  artifices  leading  to 
a  cul-de-sac,  as  inevitably  happens  when  painters 
interest  themselves  in  photography  fcr  their  own 
ends,  forgetting  that  photography  and  painting  have 
to  follow  different  paths. 

Pioneers  always  want  to  pull  down  what  has  pre- 
ceded them.  It  is  part  of  their  mentality,  but  it  is 
particularly  ironical  that  Moholy-Nagy  should  have 
dismissed  one  of  Stieglitz's  New  York  street  views 
with  the  words:  'The  victory  of  Impressionism,  or 
photography  misunderstood.  The  photographer  has 
become  a  painter  instead  of  using  his  camera  cor- 
rectly, i.e.  photographically';  for  if  'abstract  art'  is 
substituted  for  'Impressionism',  this  verdict  applies 
to  most  of  Moholy-Nagy's  own  photographs  far 
more  than  to  Stieglitz's.  The  American  photographer 
at  least  pursued  the  proper  aims  of  photography, 
whereas  the  Hungarian  painter  was  concerned  with 
image-making  for  his  own  aesthetic  ends.  Much  of 
Moholy-Nagy's  darkroom  experiments  were  mis- 
applied from  the  point  of  view  of  furthering  photo- 
graphy itself:  they  had  as  little  to  do  with  real 
photography  as  the  composite  productions  of  the 
fine  art  photographers  or  the  photo-paintings  of  the 
impressionists.  Abstract  photography  is  just  as  much 
an  aberration  as  these.  None  of  the  photograms  and 
photo-montages  by  Moholy-Nagy,  Max  Ernst,  John 
Heartfield  and  other  Constructivist  or  Surrealist 
artists  has  any  significance  for  true  photography. 

The  most  useful  Bauhaus  contribution  to  photo- 
graphy seems  to  me  to  be  the  'typophoto',  the  possi- 
bilities of  which  were  brilliantly  exploited  by  Jan 
Tschichold,  El  Lissitzky,  Herbert  Bayer,  Herbert 
Matter,  Elfer,  and  many  other  designers  and  poster 
artists,  chiefly  in  Germany,  Switzerland  and  the 
United  States.  A  photograph  puts  across  the  adver- 
tiser's message  far  more  forcibly  than  any  other  kind 
of  picture  (No.  3),  and  I  have  often  wondered  why  it 
is  so  little  used  for  posters  and  newspaper  advertise- 
ments in  England.  Here  it  has  been  far  too  long  the 
practice  to  commission  paintings  when  a  photograph 
would  do  the  job  much  better  and  more  cheaply. 
In  this  sphere  Man  Ray,  the  Bauhaus  and  the 
Dadaists  have  contributed  more  than  is  realized  to 
modern  advertising  techniques. 


172.  Harold  E.  Hdgerton.  Multiple  flash  photograph 
of  the  golfer  Dennis  Shute.  100  flashes  per  second, 
c.  1935 


In  periods  of  financial  necessity  both  Man  Ray 
and  Moholy-Nagy  also  practised  photography  for  its 
own  sake:  the  former  in  advertising  and  portraiture, 
the  latter  for  book  illustration.  'I  photograph  what  I 
cannot  paint,  and  paint  what  I  cannot  photograph: 
the  goal  is  the  same  whether  it  is  done  with  the 
camera  or  the  brush',  Man  Ray  said  to  me  during  a 
recent  visit.  Often,  of  course,  he  does  both.  The 
famous  mouth,  for  instance,  was  first  a  photograph, 
then  a  painting.  I  am  indebted  to  Ruari  McLean  for 
drawing  my  attention  to  Moholy-Nagy's  excellent 
photo-reportage  of  Eton1  and  his  illustrations  of 
Oxford. - 

More  fascinating  than  any  man-made  abstract  de- 
signs are  some  of  the  patterns  of  Nature.  As  Coburn 
pointed  out,  exploration  with  the  microscope  will 
reveal  beautiful  patterns  that  sometimes  have  an 
extraordinary  analogy  to  the  designs  of  the  modern 
artist  (No.  171).  In  scientific  photography  striking 
designs  invisible  to  the  human  eye  are  often  re- 
corded in  the  course  of  investigations  (No.  173). 
High-speed  electric  spark  photography  with  expo- 
sures ranging  from  one  hundred  thousandth  to  one 
millionth  of  a  second,  pioneered  in  the  1890s  by 
English  scientists,  was  perfected  by  Harold  E. 

1  Eton  Portrait  by  Bernard  Fergusson,  with  58  photo- 
graphs by  Moholy-Nagy,  London,  1937. 

1  An  Oxford  University  Chest  by  John  Betjeman,  with 
56  photographs  by  Moholy-Nagy,  London,  1938. 


168 


173-  Dame  Kathleen  Lonsdale,  F.R.S.  X-ray  diffraction  photograph  of  a  pentaerythritol  crystal  having  tetragonal 
symmetry.  {The  sharp  spots  are  due  to  the  regular  arrangement  of  the  atoms;  the  diffuse  spots  are  due  to  the  thermal 
vibrations),  i960 


174-  Harold  E.  Edgerton.  Splash  of  milk  resulting  from  the  dropping  of  a  ball,  which  is  seen  on  the  rebound. 
Exposure  i/roo,ooo  sec.  at  F.6$,  1936 


Edgerton  and  Kenneth  J.  Germeshausen  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  in  1933. 
Firing  flashes  at  rapid  and  regular  intervals  they 
were  able  to  record  on  one  plate  a  complete  analysis 
of  the  movement  of  a  golfer  hitting  the  ball  (No. 


172),  a  man  tossing  a  baton,  etc.,  resulting  in  fas- 
cinating patterns.  A  ball  falling  into  milk  produces  a 
cavity  in  the  surface  surrounded  by  a  coronet  of 
splashes  (No.  174);  aesthetically  this  is  a  most 
satisfying  picture. 


175.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Driving  shaft  of  a  locomotive,  1923 


171 


XVIII 


THE  NEW  OBJECTIVITY 


In  the  1920s  a  number  of  German  photographers, 
usually  referred  to  under  the  collective  title  'Neue 
Sachlichkeit'  (new  objectivity,  new  realism),  had  an 
infinitely  greater  influence  on  the  aesthetic  develop- 
ment of  photography  than  the  dark-room  experiments 
of  the  Bauhaus.  The  term  'Neue  Sachlichkeit'  was 
originally  applied  in  1924  by  Gustav  Hartlaub, 
Director  of  the  Mannheim  Art  Gallery,  to  the  work 
of  several  German  painters  who  in  reaction  against 
Expressionism  had  adopted  a  neo-realist  style.  Later 
it  was  also  used  to  denote  a  new  objective  approach 
to  subject  matter  in  photography  and  in  the  cinema. 

The  originator  of  this  style  in  photography  was 
Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Fascinated  by  beauty  in 
nature  and  in  man-made  objects,  he  started  in  1922 
on  a  series  of  close-ups,  and  by  isolating  the  object 
from  its  surroundings  discovered  remarkable  forms 
and  motifs  which  are  normally  overlooked.  His 
photographs  enabled  others  to  see  the  world  with 
fresh  eyes.  The  photographer  remained  the  objective 
observer,  careful  not  to  let  his  personality  intrude  on 
the  subject.  He  only  strove  to  intensify  appreciation 
of  it  by  representing  it  as  realistically  as  possible: 
hence  the  term  'new  objectivity'  or  'new  realism'. 

By  chance  both  Moholy-Nagy  and  Rcngcr- 
Patzsch  published  their  very  different  aims  in 
photography  in  the  same  annual,  Das  Deutsche 
Lichtbild,  in  1927.  Unlike  the  Bauhaus  teacher, 
Renger-Patzsch  did  not  feel  any  need  to  extend  the 
boundaries  of  photography.  On  the  contrary,  he 
believed  that  within  its  limitations  there  was  ample 
scope  for  the  creative  spirit,  if  only  photography  were 
used  as  it  should  be,  instead  of  trying  to  obtain 
painterly  effects  which  inevitably  lead  the  photo- 
grapher to  abandon  the  unique  qualities  of  his 
medium.  'The  secret  of  a  good  photograph,  one  that 


possesses  aesthetic  quality,  lies  in  its  realism.'  In  this 
dictum  Renger-Patzsch  reiterated  the  ideas  of  Paul 
Strand,  whose  work  was  however  unknown  to  him. 
Renger-Patzsch  stressed  that  far  too  little  value  was 
attached  to  the  possibility  of  showing  the  beauty  of 
materials.  The  texture  of  wood,  stone,  metal,  cloth, 
etc.  can  be  reproduced  by  photography  with  their 
characteristic  qualities  in  a  way  unrivalled  by  any 
other  medium.  In  the  extraordinarily  fine  tone- 
gradation  from  the  brightest  highlight  to  the  deepest 
shadow,  in  the  analysis  and  representation  of  fast 
movement,  and  in  the  reproduction  of  form,  photo- 
graphy is  superior  to  all  other  arts.  'Let  us,  therefore, 
leave  art  to  artists',  concluded  Renger-Patzsch,  'and 
let  us  try  by  means  of  photography  to  create  photo- 
graphs that  can  stand  alone  on  account  of  their 
photographic  quality — without  borrowing  from 
art." 

Rengcr-Patzsch's  book  Die  Welt  ist  Schon  (1928) 
('The  World  is  Beautiful')  with  one  hundred  of  his 
photographs  and  an  essay  by  Carl  Georg  Heise  is  an 
eloquent  exposition  of  good  straightforward  photo- 
graphy (Nos.  175-178,  180).  The  simplicity  of 
these  uncontrived  photographs  of  everyday  sub- 
jects— close-ups  of  plants,  animal  studies,  concen- 
tration on  details  of  landscape,  the  rhythm  of  pattern 
and  texture  of  man-made  objects,  architecture,  in- 
dustrial constructions,  etc.— all  represented  with 
clinical  objectivity,  came  as  a  revelation  at  a  period 
when  photographers  and  artists  everywhere  were 
turning  away  from  reality.  In  Renger-Patzsch's 
photographs  ordinary  things  took  on  a  new  signifi- 
cance. They  sharpened  the  perception  of  the  onlooker 
for  the  beauty  in  everyday  subjects,  and  enabled  him, 
like  William  Blake, 

1  Das  Deutsche  Lichtbild,  1927. 


172 


176.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Leaf  of  a  Collocasia,  1923 


177.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Potter's  hands,  1925 


l8o.  Albert  Renger-Patzsch.  Fisherwoman,  1927 


1 8 1 .  Close-up  from  Eisenstein's  'Battleship  Po tonkin' ,  1925 


To  see  a  world  in  a  grain  of  sand, 
And  a  heaven  in  a  wild  flower, 
Hold  infinity  in  the  palm  of  your  hand 
And  eternity  in  an  hour  .  .  . 
The  impact  of  the  book  on  literary  and  art  circles 
was  immediate.  Thomas  Mann  found  great  aesthetic 
pleasure  in  it,  and  in  reviewing  the  book1  declared 
that  he  did  not  share  the  common  prejudiced  view 
that  wanted  to  deny  to  photography  the  ability  to 
make  a  contribution  in  the  artistic  field.  The  art 
historian  Dr  Heinrich  Schwarz  went  even  further 
in  stating:  'If  today,  the  photographs  of  Renger- 
Patzsch  create  more  pure  pleasure  than  many  paint- 
ings, it  is  not  an  accident,  but  evidence  that  the  time 
1  Berliner  Illustrierte  Zeitung,  23  December  1928. 


has  found  in  the  photographer  a  more  sensitive 
instrument  for  the  expression  of  its  artistic  needs 
than  in  the  painter."2 

In  conventional  photographic  circles,  however, 
Die  Welt  ist  Schon  met  with  a  hostile  reception.  The 
official  organ  of  the  Royal  Photographic  Society  com- 
plained: 'In  its  stark  realism  and  entire  devotion  to 
finding  patterns  and  designs  in  unexpected  direc- 
tions, in  other  words  "stunts",  it  failed  to  recom- 
mend itself  to  British  taste  as  reaching  the  highest 
ideals  of  the  photographic  art.'  The  reviewer,  a  pic- 
torialist  of  the  old  school,  chosen  by  the  editor  as 
being  'most  fitted  to  give  a  sound  and  acceptable 
judgment  from  the  British  viewpoint'  (as  though 

1  Die  I'hotographische  Korrespondenz,  May  1929. 


176 


national  viewpoints  existed  in  European  art!),  with 
utter  lack  of  perception  dismissed  Renger-Patzsch's 
work  as  'photographic  exercises'  and  'a  waste  of  effort 
and  of  good  photographic  material',  adding  'We 
would  recommend  the  volume  to  those  wishing  to 
study  the  elementary  principles  on  which  Nature  has 
evolved  order  out  of  chaos,  but  we  cannot  imagine 
that  the  results  shown  would  have  any  other  appeal.'1 

'Neue  Sachlichkeit'  was  a  reaction  against  every- 
thing the  Royal  Photographic  Society  stood  for: 
sentimentality,  romanticism,  artificiality,  preten- 
tiousness, characterless  portraiture,  and  falsification 
of  the  photographic  medium.  For  the  followers  of  the 
new  objectivity  'pictorialism'  belonged  to  the  photo- 
graphic salons,  prettiness  and  beauty  in  the  con- 
ventional sense  to  the  picture  postcard,  and  abstract 
designs  for  their  own  sake  to  graphic  art.  The 
photographer  at  last  recognized  and  returned  to  the 
unique  characteristic  qualities  of  his  medium  with  its 
almost  unlimited  possibilities  of  genuine  expression. 

In  shaping  the  new  vision  the  influence  of  the 
cinema  should  not  be  overlooked.  D.  W.  Griffith  in 
'Intolerance'  (191 6)  brought  for  the  first  time  the 
emotional  close-up  to  the  screen  (No.  179).  G.  W. 
Pabst's  realism  in  'The  Joyless  Street'  (1925),  con- 
trasting profiteers  and  the  destitute  middle  class  in 
Vienna  at  the  time  of  the  inflation,  shocked  his  con- 
temporaries so  deeply  that  it  was  forbidden  in 
England  altogether,  and  only  cut  versions  were 
released  in  other  countries.  Eisenstein's  'The 
Battleship  Potemkin'  produced  the  same  year  and 
released  in  Germany  in  1926  made  a  sensational  im- 
pact. For  over  six  months  the  Berlin  cinema  showing 
it  was  sold  out.  Nothing  like  this  film  had  ever  been 
experienced  in  Germany,  and  it  aroused  much  more 
discussion  there  than  in  Russia,  where  its  artistic 
importance  was  lost  in  its  political  significance.  No 
one  who  has  seen  'Potemkin'  can  forget  the  horrifying 
realism  of  the  shocking  Odessa  steps  sequence 
(No.  181),  which  remains  unique,  or  the  close-up 
of  maggots  crawling  on  the  sailors'  meat.  With 
'Potemkin'  the  new  realism  was  firmly  established 
as  a  major  style  in  the  cinema. 

Apart  from  films,  a  number  of  important  publica- 
tions were  the  chief  disseminators  of  modern  photo- 
graphy. Prof  Karl  Blossfeld's  Urformen  der  Kunst 
('Original  Art  Forms')  (1929)  was  illustrated  with 

1  Bertram  Cox,  The  Photographic  Journal,  September 
1929. 

M 


120  close-ups  of  plants,  each  more  surprising  than 
the  last.  There  is  evident,  however,  a  conscious 
striving  to  astonish  the  viewer  by  concentrating  on 
unexpected  forms,  frequently  enlarged  beyond  their 
natural  size  to  accentuate  in  some  cases  the  likeness 
to  artefacts. 

The  perfect  'guidebook'  to  the  new  vision  in 
photography  is  Werner  Graff's  Es  Kommt  der  Neue 
Fotograf  ('The  New  Photographer  Has  Arrived') 
published  in  the  same  year.  In  it  the  author  collected 
the  most  significant  photographs  featuring  the 
Bauhaus  style  and  typical  examples  of  new  objec- 
tivity. Following  the  old  Chinese  proverb  that  one 
picture  conveys  more  meaning  than  a  thousand 
words,  he  restricted  himself  to  a  running  com- 
mentary, allowing  the  pictures  to  drive  home  his 
message  that  photography  should  follow  the  laws  of 
human  vision  and  not  be  restricted  by  the  old  laws 
of  composition  and  perspective  which  had  been 
devised  for  painting. 

In  the  five  years  following  the  publication  of 
Malerei,  Photographie,  Film,  Moholy-Nagy  ex- 
tended his  narrow  constructivist  interest  in  photo- 


182.  Helmar  Lerski.  Workman,  1931 


177 


183.  Maurice  Guibert.  Henri  de  Toulouse-Lautrec  at  Malrome,  c.  1896 


graphy  to  life,  nature,  and  reportage.  This  is  evident 
in  a  collection  of  his  photographs  published  in  1930. 
At  the  same  time  appeared  a  similar  book  of  Aenne 
Biermann's  photographs.  Each  publication  was 
prefaced  with  an  important  essay  on  the  aims  of  the 
movement  by  the  art  historian  Franz  Roh. 

As  the  movement  gathered  momentum,  the  close- 
up  and  reproduction  of  texture  were  also  applied  to 
portraiture,  and  since  the  exponents  of  the  new 
objectivity  were  interested  in  everyday  things,  their 
portraits  also  were  of  ordinary  people,  not  cele- 


brities. August  Sander  in  Antlitz  der  Zeit  ('The  Face 
of  our  Time')  (1929)  portrayed  a  cross-section  of  the 
social  structure  of  Germany  in  such  an  unflattering 
light  that  the  Nazis  later  impounded  all  unsold 
copies.  Erna  Lendvai-Dircksen  concentrated  on 
Das  Deutsche  Volksgesicht  (1930) — typical  German 
peasants  in  various  districts. 

Helmar  Lerski's  Kopje  des  Alltags  ('Everyday 
Faces')  (1931)  were  beggars,  street  sweepers,  haw- 
kers, washerwomen  and  servants  whom  he  obtained 
through  the  local  employment  exchange  (this  was  at 


178 


185.  E.  O. 


'Ship  in  Drydock\  1928 


the  depth  of  the  world  economic  depression).  Lerski 
felt  that  whereas  celebrities  often  wear  a  mask  and 
strike  a  pose  in  front  of  the  camera,  these  simple 
people  gave  him  a  chance  to  make  objective  character 
studies  without  flattery.  The  physical  closeness  of  his 
portraits  is  breathtaking — but  do  eyes,  nose  and 
a  mouth,  with  a  great  deal  of  over-enlarged  skin  tex- 
ture, really  give  us  the  soul  of  man?  (No.  182).  Only  a 
particularly  striking  face  like  that  of  Henri  de 
Toulouse-Lautrec  lends  itself  to  such  treatment.  The 
portrait  (No.  184),  taken  about  1896,  by  his  friend 
Maurice  Guibert,  is  in  fact  the  first  true  close-up,  and  it 
was  not  a  coincidence,  I  believe,  that  this  and  another 
equally  striking  portrait  of  the  artist  (No.  183),  both 
greatly  in  advance  of  their  time,  should  have  been 
first  published  in  a  German  magazine  in  1932. 
Several  German  weekly  illustrated  papers  and 
monthly  magazines  had  for  the  last  four  or  five  years 
been  making  propaganda  for  the  new  paths  in  photo- 
graphic expression  by  reproducing  modern  photo- 
graphs under  such  titles  as  'The  World  from  Above', 
'The  New  Vision',  'Under  the  Magnifying  Glass', 


'Beauties  of  Every  Day',  'The  Miracle  of  Light',  'How 
Our  Photographer  Saw  It',  'The  Picture  Can  be 
Found  in  the  Street',  'Journeys  of  Discovery  with 
the  Camera',  etc.  One  such  photograph  published  in 
1928  was  E.  O.  Hoppe's  forceful  'Ship  in  Drydock' 
(No.  185).  Hoppe,  for  nearly  forty  years  in  the 
forefront  of  photographers,  moved  with  the  times 
from  impressionism  to  new  objectivity,  always  sur- 
prising by  the  freshness  of  his  approach.  His  view  of 
Manhattan  from  Brooklyn  Bridge  has  been  imitated 
countless  times,  but  he  was  the  first  to  see  it  that  way 
in  1919  (No.  186). 

While  the  new  objectivity  was  beginning  to  take 
root  in  Germany  a  similar  movement  started  inde- 
pendently in  America  among  a  group  of  photo- 
graphers who  had  fallen  under  the  spell  of  Paul 
Strand's  practically  identical  outlook  and  work.  The 
first  to  proclaim  the  doctrine  of  objectivity  (see 
Chapter  XVI),  Strand  developed  its  potentialities 
from  1 92 1  onward  by  concentrating  on  the  magnifi- 
cent forms  created  by  man  in  the  machine,  and 
close-ups  of  plants,  time-withered  trees,  driftwood, 


180 


i88.  C.J.  Laughlin.  'The  Unending  Stream" ,  1939 


and  rock  formations.  He,  Edward  Weston  and  his 
son  Brett,  Charles  Sheeler,  Edward  Steichen  (No. 
189),  Berenice  Abbott  and  Paul  Outerbridge  formed 
the  spearhead  of  the  American  realist  style.  Their 
contribution  to  the  Film  and  Photo  Exhibition  in 
Stuttgart  in  1929  was  considered  outstanding  by  the 
art  critic  Carl  Georg  Heise,  who  felt  that  the  future 
of  photography  lay  in  'Neue  Sachlichkeit',  compared 
with  which  the  Bauhaus  experiments  were  meaning- 
less art  for  art's  sake. 

Like  his  mentor,  Edward  Weston  delighted  in 
photographing  unusual  natural  forms,  whether  it 
were  a  paprika  (No.  190),  an  eroded  rock  giving  an 
abstract  pattern,  or  Californian  sand-dunes.  That 
these  subjects  were  rendered  with  all  their  surface 
texture  and  with  the  utmost  exactitude  goes  without 
saying.  Ansel  Adams,  pupil  and  close  friend  of 
Weston,  took  up  photography  about  1930  and  under 


Weston's  influence  devoted  himself  at  first  to  similar 
subject  matter  (No.  191).  Weston,  Adams,  and  a 
few  other  photographers  believing  in  straight  tech- 
nique— Imogen  Cunningham,  J.  P.  Edwards,  Wil- 
lard  Van  Dyke,  Henry  Swift,  Sonia  Noskowiak — in 
1932  formed  the  T.64  Group'.  This  means  that  they 
used  the  smallest  diaphragm  opening  of  their  lens 
in  order  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible  depth  and 
sharpness  with  the  rather  large  (10  in.  x8  in.)  plate 
cameras  they  used.  And  so  we  are  back  again  where 
the  first  landscape  photographers  started  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  earlier. 

When  I  began  my  photographic  studies  in  1934 
the  State  School  of  Photography  in  Munich  was  the 
leading  one  of  its  kind  in  the  world,  and  I  soon 
learned  that  good  photography  and  a  factual,  realistic 
presentation  were  inseparable.  The  new  outlook 
manifested  itself  in  everything  we  were  taught  and 


182 


190.  Edward  Weston.  Paprika,  1930 


191.  Ansel  Adams.  Pine  cone  and  eucalyptus 
leaves,  1933 


in  everything  we  photographed  (Nos.  192-7),  but  I 
remained  unaware  of  the  historical  development  of 
this  style  and  the  books  by  its  chief  exponents  until  I 
became  interested  in  the  history  of  photography.  In 
1934  they  were  already  accepted  as  classics  and  were 
no  longer  debated  in  Germany.  Switzerland  was  the 
only  other  country  in  which  the  new  photography 
was  wholeheartedly  accepted  before  World  War  II. 

Despite  the  fine  annual  Modern  Photography — 
which,  alas!  lasted  only  from  1931  to  1942 — the 
innovations  were  slow  to  penetrate  the  fog  over  these 
islands.  The  Royal  Photographic  Society,  though 
putting  on  a  one-man  show  of  Renger-Patzsch's 
work — and  later  of  my  own — was  nevertheless 
shocked  at  the  idea  that  making  pictures  in  their 
sense  should  be  no  part  of  photography's  legitimate 
task,  and  dismissed  the  photographs  of  the  new 
objectivity  school  as  mere  record  work.  'This  soul- 
less use  of  photography  has  made  little  appeal  to  us 
in  this  country  or  in  America,  where  sentiment  still 
plays  a  part  in  our  artistic  make-up.'1 

My  book  New  Photo  Vision  (1942)  fared  no 
better  at  the  hands  of  these  pundits  than  Renger- 
Patzsch's  had  done.  My  outspokenness  may  shock, 
but  I  earnestly  believe  that  by  virtue  of  its  position 
as  the  oldest  photographic  society  in  the  world,  the 
Royal  has  been  able  to  retard  the  progress  of  artistic 
photography  in  England  to  such  an  extent  that  we 
are  now  reduced  to  being  one  of  the  least  important 
countries  in  a  field  in  which  we  were  the  acknow- 
ledged leaders  in  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  no 
secret  amongst  cognoscenti  that  the  Royal  Academy 
of  Art  has  been  similarly  unprogressive,  but  the  re- 
sult is  less  disastrous  because  modern  art  can  be 
seen  at  the  Tate  Gallery  and  in  fifty  private  galleries 
in  London  alone.  Nothing  of  the  kind  exists  for 
photography.  There  arc  no  public  or  privately  owned 
galleries  to  exhibit  photographs,  since  they  are  not 
an  article  of  commerce;  and  the  London  Salon,  once 
founded  in  opposition  to  the  Royal,  is  now,  if  any- 
thing, worse. 

The  informed  public  has  long  viewed  with  deri- 
sion the  puerile,  affected  and  sentimental  banalities 
that  are  hung  year  after  year  in  the  London  Salon, 
the  exhibitions  of  the  Royal  Photographic  Society, 
and  hundreds  of  others  up  and  down  the  country 
that  are  modelled  on  it.  The  'best'  pictures  in  these 


1  J.  Dudley  Johnston,  'Pictorial  Photography' 
Photographic  Journal,  April  1939. 


The 


192.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Piano  hammers,  1935 

exhibitions  are  annually  published  in  Photograms  of 
the  Year  and  The  Year's  Best  Photographs.  They  are 
antiquated  publications,  and,  like  the  pictorial  sec- 
tions in  The  British  Journal  Photographic  Almanac 
and  The  American  Annual  of  Photography,  degrade 
the  status  of  photography.  In  view  of  the  immense 
number  of  trashy  publications  that  appear  in  the 
name  of  photography  it  is  not  surprising  that  people 
of  cultivated  taste  are  often  its  avowed  enemies.  If  I 
did  not  know  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  I  would  be, 
myself.  Unfortunately  there  are  not  enough  good 
publications  to  outweigh  the  bad:  among  the  annuals 
I  can  think  of  only  one — the  Photography  Year  Book. 
There  are  several  excellent  magazines:  Camera 
(Switzerland),  Ferrania  (Italy),  Foto-Prisma  (Ger- 
many) and  Aperture  (America).  As  cultural  maga- 
zines of  general  interest  with  a  bias  towards  modern 


185 


193-  Helmut  Gernsheim.  The  new  town,  1935 


195-  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Skeleton  of  a  leaf  {detail).        196.  Helmut  Gernsheim.  Hog-weed  (heracleum),  1936 
(Placed  between  two  glass  plates  and  enlarged  2 1  times 
directly  on  to  bromide  paper),  1936 


photography  Magnum  (Germany)  and  Du  (Switzer- 
land) are  unequalled. 

The  traditionalists  manifest  a  complete  divorce 
from  contemporary  outlook,  remaining  at  the  level 
of  outmoded  'picture  making'  before  World  War  I, 
and  on  this  point  I  wholeheartedly  share  R.  H. 
Wilenski's  devastating  criticism  in  The  Modern 
Movement  in  Art.  Were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 


Philistinism  in  art  also  constitutes  an  aesthetic 
trend,  even  though  a  negative  one,  I  would  not  feel 
it  necessary  to  state  so  openly  that  the  modem 
movement  in  photography  has  received  no  encour- 
agement whatsoever  from  professional  and  amateur 
organizations  in  this  country.  It  exists  in  spite  of, 
and  not  because  of,  those  whose  professed  aim  it  is 
to  further  the  art  of  photography. 


188 


XIX 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  SURREALISM 


Consciously  or  subconsciously  the  influence  of 
painting  upon  photography  and  vice  versa  is  bound 
to  mould  the  outlook  of  artists  in  both  fields,  for 
their  susceptibilities  will  be  stimulated  by  any  novel 
idea.  This  kind  of  cultural  cross-fertilization  has 
nothing  to  do  with  imitation  and  is  perfectly  legi- 


timate so  long  as  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  auto- 
nomous means  of  expression  of  either  art. 

The  first  stirrings  of  the  influence  of  surrealism  on 
photography  are  apparent  in  Cecil  Beaton's  picture 
of  Edith  Sitwell  taken  from  the  top  of  a  step-ladder. 
The  poet  lies  stretched  out  on  the  floor  like  a  figure 


'Accident'  (double  exposure),  c.  1935  199.  Casson.  Surrealist  photograph,  c.  1935 

190 


201.  Edmiston.  Solarization,  c.  1934 


202.  Angus  McBean.  Dame  Peggy  Ashcroft  as  Portia,  1938 


on  a  medieval  monument,  flanked  by  two  cherubs. 
That  was  in  1927.  Later  followed  portraits  of  society 
women  under  a  glass  dome,  actresses  peeping  out 
from  a  tree-trunk,  a  bejewelled  skull  wreathed  with 
flowers,  Jean  Cocteau  peering  through  the  broken 
windows  of  a  closed-down  Paris  Metro  station,  and 
many  other  irrational  compositions.  It  was  a  love  of 
the  incongruous  that  asserted  itself  in  many  of  Cecil 
Beaton's  portraits  and  fashion  photographs  as 
strange  as  the  bizarre  compositions  of  surrealist 
artists,  only  in  photography  the  effect  is  all  the  more 
startling  because  it  is  real. 

Even  when  he  was  not  surrealist,  Beaton  achieved 
striking  effects  by  the  unusual  settings  he  invented 
for  his  sitters  {No.  200).  Some  of  his  first  photo- 
graphs of  beautiful  society  women  are  typical  pro- 
ducts of  the  1920s.  Glittering,  shallow  and  sham,  the 
style  may  have  suited  the  personalities  of  the  sitters, 


but  like  an  exotic  flower  it  wilted  away.  Beaton  was 
never  static  in  outlook,  and  whatever  he  did,  at 
whatever  period,  he  exercised  his  fertile  imagination 
and  remarkable  versatility,  displaying  equal  brilli- 
ance in  many  fields.  Portraiture,  fashion,  stage 
photography,  travel  photography  and  reportage — 
all  bear  the  unmistakable  stamp  of  his  individuality. 
Friendships  with  leading  figures  in  the  cultural  life  of 
Europe  and  America  undoubtedly  had  an  important 
influence  in  moulding  Beaton's  outlook,  but  his 
ability  in  breaking  new  ground  in  photography  is  due 
to  his  talent  in  other  spheres:  stage  and  film  design 
of  decor  and  costumes,  book  illustration,  painting, 
and  writing. 

Winifred  Casson,  a  comparatively  unknown 
woman  photographer  active  in  London  in  the  1930s, 
was  a  tireless  experimenter  in  a  great  many  of  the 
techniques  developed  in  France  and  Germany,  such 


192 


203.  Angus  McBean.  Pamela  Stanley  as  Queen  Victoria,  1938 
N 


204.  Photo-montage,  c.  1868 


as  solarization  and  negative  printing,  in  both  por- 
traiture and  advertising  photography.  But  some  of 
Casson's  best  compositions  have  no  connection  with 
either  field  and  seem  to  have  been  taken  for  the  sake 
of  finding  new  ways  of  expressing  something  per- 
sonal in  photography.  'Accident'  (No.  198)  is  a 
masterpiece  of  expressionism  in  photography 
achieved  by  a  double  exposure.  The  technique  of  the 
surrealist  photograph  (No.  199)  eludes  me;  I  only 
know  that  it  impresses  me  as  a  composition,  as  does 
the  imaginative  still-life  (solarization)  by  Edmiston 
(No.  201),  a  London  advertising  photographer  work- 
ing about  the  same  period.  Among  several  other 
avant-garde  photographers  active  in  London  in  the 
1930s  and  forming  a  kind  of  'Chelsea  set',  the 
work  of  Francis  Bruguiere,  Somerset  Murray  and 


Peter  Rose-Pulham  will  be  remembered  by  many. 

At  first  sight  some  of  Angus  McBean's  surrealist 
photographs  may  appear  to  belong  to  the  realm  of 
the  painter,  but  though  the  set-up  was  elaborate 
the  photographic  technique  was  straightforward.  The 
leading  British  theatrical  photographer,  McBean 
started  his  series  of  surrealist  photographs  in  1938, 
and  for  about  two  years  produced  nearly  every  week 
a  portrait  of  a  stage  personality  in  this  style  for  The 
Sketch.  The  powerful  picture  of  Peggy  Ashcroft  as 
'Portia'  (No.  202)  evokes  a  dreamlike  quality,  for 
everything  in  the  setting  is  artificial;  even  the  wood 
of  the  arch  was  given  a  false  grain  by  the  surrealist 
artist  Roy  Hobdell,  who  is  also  responsible  for  the 
background  which  lends  the  picture  the  impression 
of  depth  and  distance.  One  of  the  characteristics  of 


194 


surrealist  art  is  the  juxtaposition  of  unusual  ele- 
ments; another,  the  interplay  of  textures  as,  for  in- 
stance, rough  against  smooth.  Pamela  Stanley  as 
'Queen  Victoria'  (No.  203)  holding  a  lacy  sunshade 
in  a  sandy  desert,  her  crowned  head  looking  through  a 
draped  window-frame,  is  a  masterpiece  of  incongruity . 

When  war  broke  out  McBean's  surrealist  photo- 
graphs, many  of  which  were  concerned  with  ruins, 
ended.  Soon  many  of  his  fantasies  came  true,  ab- 
ruptly turning  the  surrealist  atmosphere  into  stern 
reality. 

Just  as  surrealism  in  painting  had  its  precursors  in 
the  bizarre  images  of  Bosch,  Breughel,  Callot  and 
others,  photographic  surrealism  also  had  its  origin 
earlier — in  the  photo-montages  of  amateurs  in  the 
1860s  (No.  204).  These  were  a  pastime  of  talented 
amateur  artists  of  the  upper  class  who  gave  full 
rein  to  their  imagination  in  composing  and  painting 


a  setting  for  cut-out  photographs  (mostly  by  pro- 
fessionals) of  their  family  and  friends.  Their  ingeni- 
ous productions  often  equalled  the  fantasies  of  Lewis 
Carroll  and  Edward  Lear.  The  most  surrealist  of 
these  amateurs  was  Sir  Edward  Blount,  financier 
and  railway  magnate,  whose  album  contains  hun- 
dreds of  photo-montages  which  might  be  very  re- 
vealing to  a  psychoanalyst:  two  children  emerging 
from  eggshells;  a  top-hatted  gentleman  with  frog's 
legs  serenading  a  mermaid  sitting  by  a  pond;  a  human 
head  in  a  saucepan  being  fried  over  a  flaming  heart 
(No.  205). 

On  a  more  obvious  plane  were  trick  photographs 
made  by  professional  photographers,  either  by  double 
printing  or  by  photo-montage:  a  man's  head  served 
to  him  on  a  dish,  a  figure  in  a  bottle,  a  man  carrying 
his  head  under  his  arm  or  pushing  it  in  a  wheel- 
barrow, etc. 


205.  Sir  Edward  Blount.  Photo-montage,  1873 

i95 


XX 


PHOTO-PATTERNS 


Since  most  of  the  experimental  work  at  the  Bau- 
haus,  which  closed  down  when  Hitler  came  to 
power,1  was  unknown  to  the  post-war  generation  in 
Germany,  there  was  an  understandable  desire  to  pick 
up  the  threads  again,  not  only  in  photography  but  in 
the  entire  field  of  the  modern  manifestations  in  the 
arts  which  had  been  suppressed  by  the  Nazis.  In  the 

1  Gropius  and  Moholy-Nagy  had  already  left  the 
Bauhaus  in  1928. 


206.  Peter  Keetman.  Oscillation  photograph,  1950 

196 


great  wave  of  abstract  art  which  swept  the  post-war 
world  it  is  perhaps  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  there 
was  a  tendency  to  over-emphasize  the  graphic  ele- 
ment in  photography  in  this  latest  attempt  to  align  it 
with  the  trends  of  modern  art. 

Largely  owing  to  the  influence  of  Professor  Otto 
Steinert,  teacher  of  photography  at  the  State  School 
of  Arts  and  Crafts  at  Saarbriicken,  fresh  impetus  was 
given  to  photo-graphic  art,  which  gradually  spread  all 
over  Western  Europe.  The  style  introduced  as  'Foto- 
form'  and  soon  afterwards  called  'Subjective  Photo- 
graphy' was  initiated  by  Professor  Steinert  in  1950. 
Under  this  title  he  staged  three  exhibitions  at  the 
'photokina'  in  Cologne  in  195 1,  1954  and  1958,  of 
which  the  first  two  subsequently  furnished  the  mate- 
rial for  picture-books.  Through  these  and  several 
group  exhibitions  of  Professor  Steinert  and  pupils, 
Subjective  Photography  was  widely  disseminated, 
and  outside  Germany  found  many  adherents,  parti- 
cularly in  Sweden  and  Japan,  then  emerging  for  the 
first  time  in  the  sphere  of  creative  photography. 

What  does  Professor  Steinert  himself  mean  by 
'subjective  photography'? 

'In  contradistinction  to  "applied"  utilitarian  and 
documentary  photography,  Subjective  Photography 
emphasizes  succinctly  and  clearly  the  creative  im- 
pulse of  the  individual  photographer.  .  .  .  The  usual 
picture  belonging  to  "artistic  photography"  and  de- 
pendent above  all  on  the  attractions  of  the  object 
itself,  gives  place  to  the  experimental  and  innova- 
tional  approach.  Adventures  in  the  visual  field  are  at 
first  always  unpopular  ...  but  only  a  kind  of  photo- 
graphy sympathetic  towards  experimentation  can 
provide  the  means  of  shaping  our  visual  experiences, 
A  new  photographic  style  is  one  of  the  demands  of 
our  time.  Subjective  Photography  means  therefore 


207.  Peter  Keetman.  Oil  drops,  1956 


208.  Peter  Keetman.  Ice  on  lake  during  snowfall,  1958 


to  us  the  framework  embracing  all  aspects  of  indi- 
vidual creation  in  photography — from  the  non- 
objective  photogram  to  profound  and  aesthetically 
satisfying  reportage.'1 

The  distinctive  qualities  all  the  photographs  of 
the  Steinert  group  have  in  common  are,  creative 
ability  of  the  maker,  originality,  and  a  strong  graphic 
design.  To  this  latter  the  subject  matter  is  com- 
pletely subordinate,  and  in  many  cases  the  photo- 
graph gives  at  first  sight  the  impression  of  a  woodcut 
or  linotype.  Instead  of  the  usual  delineation  of  the 
world  around  us  in  all  its  thousandfold  gradations 
of  light  and  shade,  there  is  a  conscious  concentration 
on  form  or  pattern  more  akin  to  graphic  art  than 
to  photography.  Though  a  good  deal  of  subjective 

1  Preface  to  Subjektive  Fotografie  I,  Munich,  1952. 


photography  is  based  on  techniques  evolved  by 
Moholy-Nagy  and  Man  Ray — photograms,  photo- 
montages, reticulation,  solarization,  negative  print- 
ing, pattern  photographs,  exaggerated  black  and 
white  effects,  blurred  images  to  suggest  movement — 
its  vocabulary  was  extended.  The  silver  grain  of  the 
emulsion,  formerly  kept  as  fine  as  possible,  was  now 
deliberately  coarsened  by  over-development,  heat 
treatment  or  over-enlargement  of  small  sections  of 
the  negative,  re-introducing  an  effect  similar  to  the 
coarse  structure  of  paper  in  unwaxed  Calotypes. 
Luminographs — the  light  pattern  of  traffic  at  night 
recorded  with  an  open  shutter — and  oscillation 
photographs  {No.  206),  of  which  Peter  Keetman,  a 
founder  member  of  Fotoform,  was  the  originator 
in  Europe,  were  introduced.  In  the  latter  technique 


198 


2io.  Otto  Steinert.  'Interchangeable  Forms',  1955 


the  camera  revolving  on  a  gramophone  turntable  in 
the  dark-room  records  the  movement  of  an  electric 
torch  swinging  on  a  wire.  No.  207  is  a  striking  pat- 
tern photograph  of  oil  drops,  also  by  Keetman.  The 
graphic  design  produced  by  splitting  tree  bark 
(No.  209)  is  another  favourite  subject  in  subjective 
photography.  The  cross-section  through  a  tree  by 
Hans  Hammarskiold  (No.  211)  is  in  principle  the 
same  as  my  cross-section  through  a  cucumber  (No. 
197)  only  I  wanted  to  reproduce  the  reality  with  all 
possible  tone-gradation  whilst  Hammarskiold's  in- 
tention was  to  produce  a  graphic  design  by  printing 
on  extremely  contrasty  paper  to  destroy  all  halftone. 
Professor  Steinert's  fine  graphic  designs  (Nos.  210 
and  212)  were  achieved  by  the  combination  of  a 
negative  and  a  positive  print  in  a  montage.  Such 
photographs  have  influenced  textile  design,  particu- 


larly in  Germany  and  Sweden,  and  are  finding  more 
and  more  application  in  advertising. 

These  examples  may  suffice  to  elucidate  subjec- 
tive photography  in  its  narrower  sense.  On  a  broader 
basis  Professor  Steinert  embraces  all  good  contem- 
porary photography  in  which  design,  not  content, 
plays  the  predominant  role  (Nos.  213  and  214),  though 
in  reportage  the  accent  has  obviously  to  be  shifted  to 
aesthetically  satisfying  presentation  of  content.  Still, 
the  name  'subjective  photography'  is  not  so  apt  as 
the  original  'Fotoform',  for  naturally  all  creative 
photography  is  subjective  or  'creatively  guided 
technique'.  Brilliant  examples  are  Rolf  Winquist's 
study  of  Gertrud  Fridh  as  Medea  (No.  216)  and 
Peter  Moeschlin's  seagull  in  flight  (Nos.  217  and 
218). 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  adoption  of  styles  belong- 


200 


212.  Otto  Steinert.  Snow  tracks.  Negative  montage,  1954 


213.  Caroline  Hammarskibld.  Fishnet  reflection,  1950 
214.  Arno  Hammacher.  Reflections  in  Amsterdam,  1951 


215.  Arno  Ha:nmachzr .  Detail  of  iron  construction  by  Naum  Gabo  in  Rotterdam,  1957 


ing  to  other  art  forms  can  further  photography. 
Throughout  the  history  of  photography  many  of  its 
practitioners  have  fallen  into  the  error  of  forsaking 
the  characteristics  of  their  medium  in  order  to  follow 
whatever  painterly  style  was  then  in  fashion.  I  am  all 
for  expressing  the  spirit  of  our  time  in  photography, 
but  not  at  the  expense  of  sacrificing  one  iota  of  its 
characteristics.  If  we  abandon  photographic  halftone 
for  the  sake  of  achieving  a  graphic  design  we  are  left 
with  a  skeleton  without  substance,  or  fishbones 
without  fish,  as  Cartier-Bresson  neatly  put  it. 

In  ten  years  subjective  photography  seems  to 
have  exhausted  itself,  and  its  founder  has  turned  to 
photo-historical  activities.  All  creative  movements 
are  bound  to  come  to  a  dead-end,  when  imagination 
is  supplanted  by  effects  which  have  been  played  out. 


This  is  not  to  belittle  the  creative  abilities  of  the 
initiator  of  the  movement,  who  may  well  put  aside 
accepted  rules  in  his  striving  for  new  ways  of  pre- 
sentation. The  danger  lies  in  less  gifted  imitators 
seeing  in  unconventional  experiments  the  signal 
for  a  general  licence  to  do  as  they  please,  and  pass  off 
sloppy  workmanship  as  creative  intention. 

The  present  trend  in  all  the  arts  is  towards  dis- 
integration of  accepted  forms  and  standards.  One- 
sided lighting,  blurred  negatives,  prints  with  grain 
as  big  as  grapeshot,  gruesome  distortions,  flatness 
instead  of  plastic  qualities,  lack  of  halftone  and  tex- 
ture, are  all  faulty  technique.  Previous  generations 
of  photographers  would  have  consigned  such  prints 
to  the  wastepaper-basket  where  they  belong.  Today 
they  are  perversely  admired  and  can  be  found  in  the 


217,  2l8.  Peter  Moeschlin.  Seagull  in  flight,  c.  1952 


books  of  leading  magazine  photographers.  To  satisfy 
the  mania  for  sensation,  the  modern  publicity-ridden 
photographer  relies  to  an  ever-greater  extent  on 
gimmicks  and  the  public's  stupidity. 

In  the  122  years  of  its  existence  photography  has 
for  better  or  for  worse  run  through  the  entire  gamut 
of  artistic  styles,  from  realism  to  the  abstract.  Most 
of  the  'isms'  in  painting  have  been  reflected  in 
photography,  only  the  reflection  was  never  as  good 
as  the  original.  We  have  witnessed  the  absurd  spec- 
tacle of  photography  running  after  painting  instead 
of  proudly  occupying  the  fields  vacated  by  it.  With  a 
certain  time  interval,  painting  and  photography 
arrived  at  abstract  design.  I  can  conceive  only  one 
step  that  remains  to  be  taken  to  bring  photography 
quite  up  to  date  in  art  circles— photographic 
tachisme.  Splashing  chemical  solutions  on  sensitive 
paper  and  exposing  the  'composition'  to  light:  so 
simple  and  yet  untried! 

Following  a  superficial  facet  of  a  style  of  painting 
does  not  add  to  the  value  of  a  photograph  but  rather 
detracts  from  it.  Flirtation  with  art  only  pays  for  a 
limited  period.  Respect  for  the  photographic  image 
will  always  remain  the  fundamental  principle  of  good 
photography. 

Whilst  non-objective  art  may  be  the  purest  form 
of  painting,  in  photography  it  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms,  a  negation  of  everything  that  is  truly  photo- 
graphic: in  short,  photographic  suicide.  Perceptive 
photographers  will  always  find  fresh  ways  of  pre- 
senting subject  matter.  There  are  infinite  possibili- 
ties, and  there  is  no  fear  of  photography  ever  ex- 
hausting itself.  Indeed,  colour,  which  is  only  pre- 
vented from  being  used  on  a  wider  scale  by  the 
expense  of  reproduction,  will  eventually  remove  one 
of  photography's  severest  limitations,  and  open  up 
vast  new  territories. 


Van  Deren  Coke,  of  the  University  of  Florida,  re- 
cently said  some  very  pertinent  things  about  the 
futility  of  abstract  photography: 

'That  abstract  photographs  have  an  expressive 
quality  is  not  denied.  But  the  use  of  forms  which 
have  a  superficial  relationship  to  those  used  by 
painters  does  not  result  in  favorable  comparisons 
between  the  youngest  of  the  graphic  arts,  photo- 
graphy, and  the  more  traditional  image  makers.  The 
found  accident,  the  eroded  wall,  and  the  torn  bill- 
board are  the  raw  material  of  much  of  abstract 
photography,  which  repeatedly  echoes  painted  forms 
seen  often  in  the  paintings  associated  with  the 
abstract  expressionist  school.  The  photographer 
must  recognize  that  there  is  an  essential  difference 
between  the  additive  process  of  painting  with  a 
liquid,  coloured,  and  plastic  material  on  a  large  blank 
surface,  with  its  subsequent  handmade  identification, 
and  making  a  mechanical,  subtractive  recording  of  a 
selected  aspect  of  the  visual  world.  The  magical 
quality  of  sharpness,  multiplicity  of  detail,  and  subtle 
tonal  range  must  be  used  by  photographers  to  create 
formal  statements,  divorced  from  those  identified 
with  painting.  By  isolating  fragments  of  reality  and 
lifting  these  records  out  of  an  original  context,  the 
photographer  can  rarely  give  enough  life  and  validity 
to  the  same  order  of  forms  as  those  seen  in  the  more 
prestigeous  medium  of  oil  painting.  The  attempts 
are  only  too  often  a  faint  voice,  without  conviction  or 
aesthetic  contribution.'1 

Both  now  and  in  the  future,  the  most  satisfying 
task  and  most  important  function  of  photography  is 
as  a  direct  medium  of  communication.  No  other  art 
medium  could  portray  the  face  of  our  time  so  con- 
vincingly as  photography. 

1  Aperture,  No.  4,  i960. 


207 


XXI 


THE  FACE  OF  OUR  TIME 


The  only  means  available  to  the  early  reportage 
photographers  to  bring  their  work  before  the  public 
had  been  the  sale  of  actual  photographs,  or  the 
publication  of  books  illustrated  with  stuck-in  photo- 
graphs. It  was  only  after  the  perfection  of  the  half- 
tone block  and  its  general  introduction  for  magazine 
illustration  during  the  1890s  and  in  newspapers  in 
the  early  years  of  this  century  that  photographs  could 
be  printed  along  with  the  text.  Previously  photo- 


graphs had  to  be  copied  for  publication  as  line  draw- 
ings, and  inevitably  in  this  translation  the  originals 
lost  much  of  their  conviction. 

During  the  late  1920s  and  '30s  the  'make  up' 
of  photographically-illustrated  weekly  magazines 
underwent  a  revolutionary  change  and  others  were 
started,  which  provided  for  the  first  time  an  outlet 
for  picture-stories.  The  very  nature  of  the  lengthy 
preparations  of  such  magazines  excluded  topical 


219.  Erich  Salomon.  At  the  Second  Hague  Conference  on  Reparations,  January  1930. 
L  to  R,  I.oucheur,  Tardieu,  Curtius,  ("heron 


208 


events,  which  remained  the  speciality  of  the  daily 
newspapers. 

The  picture-story  was  made  possible  by  a  new 
camera,  the  Ermanox,  which  was  fitted  with  a  large- 
aperture  lens,  the  Ernostar  F.i.8.1  This  was  the 
fastest  lens  ever  constructed  until  then,  and  in  con- 
junction with  fast  negative  material  this  4A  x6  cm. 
plate  camera  opened  up  a  new  era  in  photography. 
For  the  first  time  it  became  possible  to  take  photo- 
graphs indoors  by  available  light.  It  was  hardly  an 
exaggerated  claim  of  the  manufacturer  to  state  in 
1925  'What  you  can  see,  you  can  photograph'.  Snap- 
shots of  stage  scenes,  receptions,  and  other  indoor 
functions  could  now  have  been  taken  without  dis- 
turbing magnesium  flashlight.  However,  there  was 
the  usual  time-lag  until  the  potentialities  of  the  new 
apparatus  were  appreciated.  It  was  not  until  Feb- 
ruary 1928  when  the  Berliner  Illustrierte  published 
Dr  Erich  Salomon's  first  sensational  photograph  oi 
a  murder  trial  that  other  photographers  began  to 
realize  the  technical  possibilities  opened  up  by  this 
camera. 

Compared  with  the  Leica,  also  introduced  in  1925, 
the  Ermanox  gave  the  reportage  photographer  two 
great  advantages  which  remained  with  this  camera 
until  about  1932:  the  Ernostar  lens  was  several 
times  faster  than  the  Leica's  Elmar,  and  glass  plates 
gave  much  better  enlargements  than  35  mm.  film, 
until  fine-grain  development  was  introduced. 

Dr  Salomon's  most  famous  photographs  were 
taken  with  the  Ermanox  between  1928  and  1932 — 
indoor  pictures  of  special  occasions  and  events  such 
as  the  premiere  of  an  opera,  the  great  and  famous 
off  their  guard,  a  session  of  the  Reichstag,  and  in 
particular  international  conferences.  No  one  knew 
how  he  managed  to  get  into  secret  sessions  from 
which  photographers  were  barred  or,  having  gained 
admission,  was  able  to  take  unposed  pictures  in 
lighting  conditions  that  would  have  deterred  any 
other  photographer  even  with  permission.  Looking 
at  Salomon's  revealing  picture  of  French  and  Ger- 
man politicians  and  financial  experts  at  the  Second 

1  The  Ermanox  camera  with  F.2  Ernostar  lens  was 
introduced  in  1925.  The  following  year  the  F.1.8  lens  was 
put  on  the  market. 

220.  Felix  H.  Man.  Igor  Stravinsky  conducting  at  a 
rehearsal,  1929 

0 


221.  Felix  H.  Man.  Georges  Braque  in  his  studio,  1952 

Hague  Conference  on  Reparations  in  1930  {No.  219) 
one  can  understand  why  politicians  preferred  to 
carry  on  their  discussions  in  private.  No  wonder 
Salomon's  'candid  camera'  pictures — a  term  coined 
by  the  art  editor  of  the  Weekly  Graphic  in  London1 
— caused  a  stir.  Aristide  Briand  called  him  'le 
roi  des  indiscrets'  but  jokingly  admitted  that  a  meet- 
ing without  him  could  not  be  considered  important. 

Whilst  Salomon  pioneered  the  field  of  political  re- 
portage, usually  in  single  pictures,  Felix  H.  Man 
was  the  first  to  make  picture-stories  of  general 
events,  i.e.  to  tell  a  story  or  present  a  situation  in  a 

1  In  the  issue  of  11  January  1930. 


set  of  pictures  such  as  a  trotting  race  at  night,  an 
art  auction  in  Berlin,  life  on  the  Kurfurstendamm 
between  midnight  and  dawn,  the  expressions  and 
movements  of  conductors  (No.  220),  musicians  and 
actors  during  concert  and  theatre  performances.  His 
reportages  from  1929  onward  were  mainly  published 
in  the  Munchner  Illustrierte,  which  under  the  editor- 
sh:p  of  Stefan  Lorant  introduced  the  picture-story 
as  a  new  form  of  photographic  journalism  in  weekly 
publications.  A  picture-story  later  imitated  count- 
less times  was  Man's  'A  Day  with  Mussolini',  pub- 
lished in  that  paper  in  March  1931. 
Wolfgang  Weber,  who  still  works  for  an  illustrated 

210 


222.  BrassaL  Prostitute  in  Paris,  1933 


weekly  in  Germany,  is  another  pioneer  of  photo- 
journalism, though  probably  few  people  today  re- 
member his  name  in  this  connection.  His  first  pic- 
ture-story— a  reportage  on  New  York — was  pub- 
lished in  the  Miinchner  Illustrierte  in  March  1929. 
Kurt  Hiibschmann — later  Hutton — and  Alfred 
Eisenstaedt  made  their  debut  as  reportage  photo- 
graphers in  the  same  weekly  magazine  during  1930. 
About  this  time  Robert  Capa,  just  arrived  from 
Budapest,  received  his  training  in  photo-journalism 
by  Man  at  'Dephot'  in  Berlin,  an  organization 
similar  to  the  'Magnum'  group. 

In  a  country  that  had  experienced  defeat,  revolu- 
tion, occupation  and  inflation,  and  was  now  afflicted 
anew  by  the  economic  depression,  social  documenta- 
tion was  an  obvious  field  for  the  reportage  photo- 
grapher. A  large  number  of  illustrated  articles  and 
books  depicted  the  plight  of  the  worst-hit  areas. 
The  photographs  in  Count  Stenbock-Fcrmor's 


223.  Brassai.  Entrance  to  the  Bal  Tabarin,  Paris,  1932 


Deutschland  von  Unten  (193 1),  though  overlooked 
until  now  by  historians  of  photography,  reveal  con- 
ditions as  shocking  as  Walker  Evans'  and  Margaret 
Bourke-White's  later  documentations  of  impover- 
ished areas  of  the  U.S.A.  Had  the  German  Govern- 
ment acted  as  Roosevelt  did  with  his  New  Deal, 
National  Socialism  might  have  been  averted.  The 
pictures  disclose  the  naked  truth:  aesthetically  they 
are  an  expression  of  the  new  realism.  Modern  re- 
portage, in  fact,  was  developed  in  Germany  and 
spread  from  there  in  the  early  'thirties  to  other 
countries  in  Western  Europe  and  the  United  States 
by  the  very  photographers,  journalists  and  editors 
who  had  pioneered  it  in  Germany,  for  many  of  them 
became  refugees  from  Nazism. 

From  about  1933  onward  most  reportage  photo- 
graphers turned  to  the  miniature  camera  (Leica  or 
Contax)  with  which  it  was  possible  to  photograph 
in  quick  succession,  and  often  unnoticed  by  the 


224.  Bill  Brandt.  Coal  searcher,  1937 


225.  Ida  Kar.  Marc  Chagall,  1954 


'victim',  fleeting  expressions  and  movements.  In 
popularizing  the  miniature  camera  Dr  Paul  Wolff1 
played  a  unique  role — even  though  he  was  perhaps 
a  brilliant  exploiter  of  the  technique  rather  than  an 
innovator  in  the  aesthetic  field.  It  was  due  to  him 
that  the  miniature  camera,  once  ridiculed  as  unsuit- 
able for  serious  work,  eventually  won  recognition  as 
a  precision  instrument  always  ready  for  action. 
Brassai's  frank  revelations  of  Parisian  night  life 

1  Meine  Erfahrungen  mit  der  Leica :  ein  historischer 
Querschriitt  aits  fast  zehn  Jahren  Lcica-Photographic, 
Frankfurt,  1934. 


(No.  222)  in  the  early  'thirties  were  further  proof  of 
the  photographer's  extended  scope  in  portraying 
the  face  of  our  time.  Paris  de  Nuit  (1933)  was  the 
first  reportage  made  by  night.  Peering  behind  the 
glamorous  facade  Brassai  finds  lovers  under  the 
floodlit  bridges;  silhouetted  against  the  cobble-stones 
shining  under  the  street-lamp  a  prostitute  appears. 
At  cabarets  and  other  night  haunts  (No.  223)  the 
rich  amuse  themselves,  while  in  side  streets  the 
newspaper  printer,  the  baker,  the  roadmender  are  at 
work.  Policemen  go  on  patrol;  bundles  of  misery 
rake  through  dustbins  or  sleep  on  pavements  and 


213 


228.  Arthur  Rothstein.  Farmer  and  sons  in  dust  storm,  Cimarron  County ',  Oklahoma,  1936 


benches,  wrapped  in  newspapers  to  keep  warm.  The 
book  is  a  brilliant  exposition  of  night  life  in  the 
capital. 

Bill  Brandt's  classic  picture  of  an  unemployed 
miner  (No.  224)  epitomizes  the  grimness  of  the 
economic  depression.  It  was  on  a  path  over  a  bare 
bit  of  moorland  that  Brandt  met  one  evening  an 
unemployed  miner  returning  home  from  coal- 
searching.  'The  man's  clothes  were  black,  and  the 
grass  by  the  side  of  the  path  was  black,  as  it  was  near 
pitheads.  The  scene  was  dreary  in  the  extreme,  yet 
moving  by  its  very  atmosphere  of  drabness.'  Bill 
Brandt's  picture  is  a  far  more  gripping  commentary 


on  the  social  and  personal  injustice  of  unemploy- 
ment than  a  White  Paper  packed  with  statistics  could 
provide.  Brandt  has  always  kept  a  child-like  sense 
of  wonder,  which  is  really  the  secret  that  lies  behind 
his  approach  to  any  subject.  Whereas  others  need  to 
stimulate  this  sense  by  travelling  to  strange  and  far- 
away countries,  Brandt  has  for  nearly  thirty  years 
worked  almost  exclusively  in  England,  and  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  English  to  the  English  has  been  his 
main  theme.  He  explained  to  me  once — 

'Most  of  us  look  at  a  thing  and  believe  we  have 
seen  it,  yet  what  we  see  is  often  only  what  our  pre- 
judices tell  us  to  expect  to  see,  or  what  our  past 


215 


229.  Henri  Cartier-Bresson.  Sunday  on  the  banks  of  the  Marne,  1938 


experience  tells  us  should  be  seen,  or  what  our  de- 
sire wants  to  see.  Very  rarely  are  we  able  to  free  our 
minds  of  thoughts  and  emotions,  and  just  see  for  the 
simple  pleasure  of  seeing.  And  so  long  as  we  fail  to 
do  this,  so  long  will  the  essence  of  things  be  hidden 
from  us.' 

Brandt's  interest  in  social  conditions,  out  of  sheer 
sympathy  for  the  under-dog,  enabled  him  to  photo- 
graph the  often  inhuman  conditions  in  which  poor 
families  had  to  live  before  the  war.  The  industrial 
North,  where  whole  sections  of  the  community  were 
out  of  work,  and  the  fabulous  life  of  the  rich  in  May- 
fair,  provided  Brandt  with  a  wealth  of  contrasting 
subjects.  In  The  English  at  Home  (1936)  he  depicted 
the  life  of  the  Two  Nations.  Even  without  Raymond 
Mortimer's  poignant  introduction,  Brandt's  pictures 
speak  volumes,  for  they  are  the  commentary  of  a 
socially  conscious  observer  on  the  misdeeds  of  our 


time.  They  form  an  unforgettable  documentation  of 
the  great  chasm  which  divided  rich  and  poor  in 
housing,  education  and  leisure. 

Brassai's  and  Brandt's  pictures  are  haunting,  as  is 
Margaret  Bourke-White's  moving  reportage  of  the 
Southern  States  of  America  in  You  have  seen  Their 
Faces  (1937)  and  John  Ford's  great  film  based  on 
John  Steinbeck's  novel  The  Grapes  of  Wrath  (1939). 

In  America  in  the  mid-'thirties  a  number  of 
photographers  recording  living  conditions  following 
the  economic  crisis  for  the  Farm  Security  Adminis- 
tration under  Roosevelt's  New  Deal  produced  out- 
standing pictures  which  shocked  the  conscience  of 
America  by  their  starkness.  Walker  Evans's  photo- 
graphs 'put  the  physiognomy  of  the  nation  on  your 
table',  as  one  writer  said.  The  ramshackle  dreariness 
revealed  in  his  photographs  is  a  terrible  indictment 
of  civilization  in  certain  parts  of  America  twenty- 


216 


230.  Kurt  Hutton.  At  the  fair,  1938 

217 


231.  Erich  Auerbach.  Retired  civil  servant,  1944 


235-  Anon.  Demented  political  prisoner  in  Nazi  con-  236.  Bert  Hardy.  South  Korean  political  prisoners  at 
centration  camp  after  liberation,  1945  Pusan  awaiting  transport  to  a  concentration  camp  and 

execution,  1950 


five  years  ago  (No.  226).  The  same  applies  to  the 
photographs  of  Dorothea  Lange  (No.  227),  Mar- 
garet Bourke-White  and  Arthur  Rothstcin  (No. 
228),  all  of  whom  worked  on  this  scheme.  Their 
haunting  photographs  go  far  beyond  the  mere  docu- 
mentation of  the  conditions  as  they  found  them; 
they  are  a  moving  comment  upon  the  face  of  our 
time.  Photography  is  a  powerful  weapon  in  awaken- 
ing the  social  conscience,  as  Jacob  Riis  first  came  to 
realize.  What  Gustave  Dore  accomplished  in  his 
dramatic  pen  drawings  of  London  ninety  years  ago 
can  today  be  achieved  with  even  greater  forcefulness 
by  a  photographer  with  the  same  penetrating  powers 
of  vision  as  Dore. 

However,  it  is  not  only  social  conditions  but  the 
whole  of  life  which  photography  depicts  more  con- 
vincingly than  any  other  graphic  art.  To  obtain 
unfamiliar  shots  of  familiar  subjects  is  one  of  the 


tasks  of  the  reportage  photographer  working  for 
illustrated  weekly  magazines.  Success  lies  in  catch- 
ing the  mood,  atmosphere  and  expression.  Does  not 
Kurt  Hutton's  scenic  railway  (No.  230)  evoke  all  the 
fun  of  the  fair?  Stefan  Lorant's  criterion  that  'the 
camera  should  be  like  the  notebook  of  a  trained  re- 
porter to  record  events  as  they  happen,  without 
trying  to  stop  them  to  make  a  picture'  is  perfectly 
exemplified  by  Hutton's  photograph.  And  just  as  he 
epitomizes  the  entire  situation  in  this  picture,  so  does 
Henri  Cartier-Bresson's  'Sunday  on  the  Banks  of  the 
Marne'  (No.  229)  at  once  convey  the  atmosphere  of 
a  typical  petit-bourgeois  family's  ideal  Sunday  out- 
ing. Down  to  the  smallest  detail  it  is  a  French  family. 
What  traveller  in  France  has  not  seen  similar  groups 
a  hundred  times  over!  Yet  only  Cartier-Bresson  has 
been  able  to  snatch  such  a  perfect  picture  reminis- 
cent of  Seurat's  'Baignade'  at  the  Tate  Gallery, 


221 


and  as  brilliant  a  composition  as  the  painter's. 
Cartier-Bresson  found  the  situation  ready-made,  but 
the  reportage  photographer  is  to  a  much  greater 
extent  than  the  graphic  artist  dependent  on  chance 
circumstances  over  which  he  has  no  control. 
Patiently  he  has  to  stalk  his  subject  until  all  the  ele- 
ments in  the  picture  are  at  their  maximum  expres- 
siveness. Action  was  still  lacking  until  the  man  on 
the  left  poured  himself  another  glass  of  red  wine. 
This  was  'the  decisive  moment',  as  Cartier-Bresson 
calls  it. 

Cartier-Bresson  once  defined  reportage  to  me  as  a 
progressive  operation  of  the  eye,  the  mind,  and  the 
feelings,  and  since  photography  and  reportage  are  to 
him  synonymous  terms — implying  that  he  considers 
reportage  as  the  only  legitimate  field  of  creative 
photography — he  added:  'Photography  is  for  me  the 
simultaneous  recognition  in  a  fraction  of  a  second  of 
the  significance  of  an  event,  as  well  as  of  a  precise 
formal  organization  (i.e.  composition)  which  brings 
that  event  to  life.  On  rare  occasions  a  single  photo- 
graph will  suffice  by  itself  to  express  all  the  essentials 
of  a  scene  (No.  232),  but  usually  it  is  necessary 
to  have  several  photographs  complementing  each 
other.' 

World  War  II  and  its  aftermath  provided  photo- 
reportage  with  one  of  its  most  important  tasks.  At  no 
previous  period  have  the  cruelty  of  war,  and  poverty, 
starvation  and  misery,  been  so  vividly  interpreted — 
with  the  exception  of  Goya's  haunting  'Disasters  of 
War'.  The  years  of  upheaval  are  reflected  in  count- 
less memorable  pictures,  but  out  of  the  wealth  of 
material  available  I  can  only  select  a  few  typical 
examples  in  which  the  photographer  has  managed  to 
create  a  striking  and  at  the  same  time  an  aesthetically 
satisfying  picture.  Cecil  Beaton's  photograph  'After 
the  Raid'  (1940),  which  was  used  as  a  poster  in  the 
American  Red  Cross  campaign  and  on  the  cover  of 
Life  magazine,  is  said  to  have  greatly  influenced 
American  feeling  towards  helping  Britain,  before  the 
U.S.  entered  the  war.  A  little  girl  in  a  hospital  bed 
(No.  233)  with  bomb-terror  still  in  her  eyes,  and 
clinging  to  her  doll  which  had  survived  with  her, 
stares  you  in  the  face.  What  expression  and  appeal 
for  sympathy  is  contained  in  this  directness — a 
directness  which  no  one  can  escape,  like  that  famous 
recruiting  poster  in  the  First  World  War  of  Lord 
Kitchener,  pointing  at  you  and  saying,  'Your  king  and 
country  need  you'.  Beaton's  wrecked  tank  (No.  234) 


in  the  Libyan  Desert  is  for  me  as  great  a  war  picture 
as  'Totes  Meer'  or  'Battle  of  Britain'  by  Paul  Nash, 
who  for  these  and  many  other  paintings  took  photo- 
graphs as  studies.  Treating  his  Kodak  as  a  kind  of 
notebook,  Nash  from  1931  until  his  death  in  1946 
increasingly  made  use  of  his  camera,  with  the  result 
that  he  'developed',  as  he  put  it,  'something  like  a 
new  consideration  of  landscape  pictorially'.  In  Fertile 
Image  (1951)  Nash's  photographs  stand  on  their  own, 
revealing  better  than  his  paintings  the  hidden  life  of 
monoliths,  sprawling  tree-trunk  monsters  (No.  187) 
and  other  strange  objects  that  fired  his  imagination. 

In  my  opinion  the  photograph  of  a  demented 
political  prisoner  (No.  235),  for  whom  liberation 
came  too  late,  is  an  infinitely  more  expressive  symbol 
of  persecution  than  Reg  Butler's  prize-winning  iron 
construction  which  is  to  be  set  up  in  Berlin.  The 
photograph  places  on  record  for  all  time  an  accusa- 
tion and  a  challenge:  the  sculptor's  monument  is  an 
intellectual  exercise.  A  book  of  concentration  camp 
photographs  given  to  every  adolescent  on  leaving 
school  would  be  a  far  more  effective  reminder  of 
these  horrors.  As  it  is,  some  Germans  still  do  not 
want  to  believe  that  they  really  happened. 

The  way  Bert  Hardy  caught  the  terror-stricken 
South  Korean  political  prisoners  crouching  abjectly 
before  the  guard's  rifle  in  anticipation  of  death  (No. 
236)  sums  up  the  whole  situation — man's  inhuman- 
ity to  man.  It  is  obvious  that  a  sensitive  photo- 
grapher cannot  record  such  events  objectively:  the 
deeper  his  compassion  goes,  the  greater  will  be  the 
impact  of  his  picture.  This  is  exactly  what  I  felt  on 
first  seeing  Eugene  Smith's  wonderful  reportage, 
'The  Spanish  Village'  (1950),  in  which  he  explores 
the  eternal  themes  of  life  and  death  in  a  poor  com- 
munity. Eugene  Smith  used  his  camera  just  as 
Velasquez  used  his  brush.  He  lived  in  the  village  for 
some  months  in  order  to  win  the  confidence  of  the 
inhabitants,  as  well  as  to  get  intimately  acquainted 
with  their  customs — an  essential  point  for  a  stranger 
wishing  to  achieve  proper  contact  with,  and  insight 
into,  the  life  of  a  foreign  country. 

Werner  Bischof,  another  artist  with  the  camera, 
spent  a  year  in  Japan  becoming  familiar  with  the 
subtle  beauty  of  Japanese  art,  and  the  suffering  and 
confusion  of  people  living  in  an  ancient  tradition 
with  the  results  of  the  atom  bomb.  His  intensely 
vivid  and  sensitively  seen  interpretation  of  his  im- 
pressions in  colour  and  monochrome  make  his  book 


224 


239-  Werner  Bischof.  Stepping-stones  in  the  Heian  Garden-,  Kyoto,  1952 
P 


241.  George  Oddner.  Man  with  load,  Peru,  1955 


Japan  one  of  the  greatest  contributions  in  the  field  of 
reportage.  The  death-mask  of  famine  on  living 
people  (No.  238)  which  he  encountered  in  India  is 
another  typical  example  of  his  ability  to  transform 
a  photograph  into  a  timeless  symbol.  In  his  work  of 
bringing  about  a  greater  understanding  between  men 
Bischof  lost  his  life,  like  two  of  his  colleagues  in 
the  Magnum  organization,  who  also  photographed 
from  the  depths  of  their  heart,  Robert  Capa  and 
David  Seymour.  To  them,  reportage  was  a  mission 
in  life. 

Emil  Schulthess'  photographs  of  Africa  show 
remarkable  observation  of  nature  with  its  striking 
variety  of  scenery  and  wild  life,  but  one  misses  the 
feeling  for  human  interest  which  make  the  volume 
Japan  by  his  friend  Werner  Bischof  so  memor- 
able. 


George  Oddner's  hitherto  unpublished  Peruvian 
reportage  comes  much  closer  to  Bischof 's  work.  He 
moves  one  by  his  sympathy  with  the  life  of  humble 
people.  But  both  Schulthess  and  Oddner  surprise 
by  the  intensity  of  vision  and  economy  of  means  with 
which  they  tell  their  story.  Oddner's  Peruvian 
labourer  (No.  241)  walking  over  cobblestones, 
doubled  up  benea  th  the  weight  of  a  sack  of  flour,  has 
great  power.  Counter-movement  and  social  contrast 
are  implied  by  the  legs  of  a  well-dressed  man  walk- 
ing in  the  opposite  direction  on  the  smooth  pave- 
ment. Intensely  moving  I  find  his  picture  of  a  blind 
beggar  who  has  been  collecting  crumbs  from  the 
(comparatively)  rich  man's  table  (No.  242),  a  biblical 
scene  of  stark  realism  set  in  the  primitiveness  of 
Peru. 

Unforgettable  in  its  simplicity  is  Oddner's  photo- 


227 


244-  George  Oddner.  Child  selling  vegetables  in  Peru,  1955 


graph  of  a  Peruvian  child,  so  hungry  that  she  started 
nibbling  at  the  vegetables  she  has  for  sale  (No.  244). 
Genuine  sympathy  for  the  underdog  is  a  necessary 
element  for  taking  pictures  that  have  an  immediate 
impact.  Zacharia's  agony  and  grief  (No.  243),  one 
of  the  most  moving  shots  from  'Come  Back  Africa', 
brings  out  in  a  compelling  climax  the  tragedy  of 
South  Africa  today.  The  film  is  a  gripping  document 
of  our  times,  a  powerful,  moving  and  convincing 
argument  against  apartheid;  and  this  close-up  is  more 
visually  effective  even  than  the  news  picture  of  the 
scattered  bodies  at  Sharpeville. 

The  most  important  contribution  of  photography 
as  an  art  form  lies,  I  believe,  in  its  unique  ability  to 


chronicle  life.  Photography  is  the  only  'language' 
understood  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and,  bridging 
all  nations  and  cultures,  it  links  the  family  of  man. 
Independent  of  political  influences — where  people 
are  free — it  reflects  truthfully  life  and  events,  allows 
us  to  share  in  the  hopes  and  despair  of  others,  and 
illuminates  political  and  social  conditions.  We  be- 
come the  eye-witnesses  of  the  humanity  and  in- 
humanity of  mankind,  and  are  affected  according  to 
the  degree  of  sympathy  of  the  photographer  and  his 
ability  to  communicate  it.  No  other  creative  field  has 
such  a  wonderful  task,  and  offers  such  unique 
possibilities,  as  photography  and  its  offspring,  the 
film  and  television. 


229 


SHORT  BIOGRAPHIES  OF 


PHOTOGRAPHERS  ILLUSTRATED 


Ansel  Adams    b.  1902 

Born  in  San  Francisco,  son  of  a  timber  merchant, 
Adams  became  a  professional  pianist.  He  was  an  ardent 
amateur  photographer  of  scenery  for  many  years  before 
becoming  a  professional  in  1930.  A  friend  of  Edward 
Weston,  Adams  became  in  1932  a  founder  member  of 
the  F.64  Group.  Appointed  in  1941  photo-muralist  to 
the  U.S.  Department  of  the  Interior,  Adams  began 
photographing  characteristic  landscapes  of  various  re- 
gions, which  made  him  famous.  Ten  years  later  started 
collaboration  with  Nancy  Newhall  on  regional  exhibi- 
tions and  books,  among  them  Mission  San  Xavier  del  Bac 
(1954)  and  This  is  the  American  Earth  (i960).  Published 
a  number  of  books  and  portfolios  of  his  fine  landscapes, 
including  My  Camera  in  the  Yosemite  Valley  and  My 
Camera  in  the  National  Parks  (both  1950). 

Robert  Adamson  1821-48 

The  son  of  a  farmer  at  Burnsidc  near  St  Andrews, 
Robert  Adamson  was  for  a  year  or  two  apprenticed  to  a 
millwright  at  Cupar.  Too  delicate  for  this  hard  work,  in 
1842  he  learned  the  Calotype  process  from  his  brother 
Dr  John  Adamson,  professor  of  chemistry  at  St  Andrews 
University,  and  opened  a  professional  portrait  studio  in 
Edinburgh  in  January  or  February  1843.  There  he  was 
joined  at  the  end  of  May  by  D.  O.  Hill.  In  the  autumn 
of  1847  Adamson's  health  failed  and  he  returned  to  his 
parents'  house  where  he  died  the  following  January. 

James  Anderson  1813-77 

Born  at  Blcncarn,  Cumberland,  the  watcrcolour  painter 
Isaac  Atkinson  settled  in  Rome  in  1838  under  the  name 
James  Anderson.  For  a  time  he  did  a  flourishing  busi- 
ness in  small  bronze  casts  copied  from  antique  sculpture. 
By  1849  he  was  established  as  a  photographer  working 
for  well-known  sculptors  like  Gibson.  Anderson's  photo- 
graphs of  antique  sculpture  and  views  of  Rome,  on  sale 
at  a  bookseller's  in  the  Piazza  di  Spagna,  were  in  great 
demand  by  tourists.  In  later  years  he  became  chiefly 
known  for  reproductions  of  art  in  Italian  museums. 
Until  a  few  years  ago  the  firm  still  flourished  under  the 
direction  of  Anderson's  grandsons.  He  died  in  Rome. 


James  Craig  Annan    1864- 1946 

Born  at  Hamilton,  son  of  Thomas  Annan,  professional 
photographer  in  Glasgow.  Trained  in  his  father's  studio, 
learned  photogravure  from  its  inventor  Karl  Klic  in 
Vienna  and  introduced  it  under  licence  into  Great 
Britain  in  1883.  Like  his  father,  Craig  Annan  was  one  of 
the  leading  creative  photographers  in  Scotland.  Through 
his  untiring  efforts  in  propagating  the  work  of  Hill  and 
Adamson  on  the  Continent  and  in  the  U.S.A.  it  was  're- 
discovered' at  the  turn  of  the  century,  but  at  the  same 
time  Annan's  own  work  was  somewhat  overshadowed. 
Left  the  running  of  his  Sauchiehall  Street  studio  largely 
to  assistants,  photographing  only  prominent  people. 
Annan's  best  pictures  were  taken  on  foreign  holidays, 
and  exhibited  as  photogravures  or  photo-etchings. 
Annan  was  a  member  of  the  Linked  Ring  and  first 
president  of  the  International  Society  of  Pictorial  Photo- 
graphers. He  died  at  his  house  at  Lenzie  near  Glasgow. 

Thomas  Annan  1829-87 

Born  in  Fifeshire,  where  his  father  owned  a  linen  mill, 
Thomas  Annan  was  trained  as  a  copperplate  engraver  and 
came  to  Glasgow  at  the  age  of  twenty-six.  He  took  up 
photography  the  same  year  and  within  a  few  years  be- 
came the  leading  portrait  photographer  in  Scotland, 
with  a  studio  in  Sauchiehall  Street,  Glasgow,  which  still 
flourishes.  Also  a  prominent  landscape  photographer, 
Annan  illustrated  an  edition  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  Mcr- 
mion  (1866)  and  other  literary  works.  Introduced  the 
carbon  permanent  printing  process  into  Scotland  in 
1866,  chiefly  for  art  reproductions  in  which  the  firm 
specialized,  and  opened  works  at  Lenzie  near  Glasgow, 
where  between  1879-81  a  set  of  carbon  prints  of  Hill's 
photographs  was  produced.  Between  1868-77  Annan 
made  a  photo-documentation  of  Glasgow  slums  for  the 
Glasgow  City  Improvement  Trust,  a  selection  of  forty 
photographs  being  issued  in  a  limited  edition  in  1878. 

Edward  Anthony    1 8 1 8-88 

While  training  as  a  civil  engineer  Anthony  learned  to 
daguerreotype  in  his  spare  time  from  Samuel  Morse 
(1840  or  '41).  In  1841  he  photographed  the  north- 


231 


eastern  frontier  with  Canada,  which  was  in  dispute  with 
England — doubtless  the  first  use  of  photography  in  a 
Government  survey.  In  partnership  with  J.  M.  Edwards 
started  a  portrait  studio  in  Washington  (1842)  and 
photographed  all  the  members  of  Congress  (1843)  form- 
ing a  National  Dagucrrcan  Gallery  (exhibited  in  New 
York  City)  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1852.  In  1847 
Anthony  sold  his  share  in  the  portrait  business  and  be- 
came a  dealer  in  daguerreotype  materials.  In  1852 
founded  with  his  elder  brother  the  firm  of  A.  &  H.  T. 
Anthony,  which  became  the  principal  photographic  sup- 
ply house  in  the  United  States.  Published  stereoscopic 
views,  including  the  first  instantaneous  street  views  of 
New  York  (1859). 

Eugene  Atget  1856-1927 

Born  at  Bordeaux,  Atget  was  until  1898  a  comedian 
playing  in  the  provinces.  Retired  to  devote  himself  to  a 
self-imposed  task:  the  documentation  of  a  Paris  that  was 
gradually  vanishing.  The  playwright  Victoricn  Sardou 
told  him  of  buildings,  etc.,  doomed  to  destruction,  and 
the  Archives  de  Documentations  Photographiques 
bought  from  him  cheaply  all  photographs  relating  to  the 
history  of  Paris.  But  apart  from  this,  he  had  no  official 
support  or  recognition.  Though  Utrillo  based  paintings 
on  his  photographs  and  Braque  also  bought  a  few,  Atget 
remained  practically  unknown  and  died  in  extreme 
poverty  in  Paris,  leaving  about  10,000  photographs.  It 
was  only  in  1930  with  the  publication  of  a  selection  of 
these  photographs  in  Paris,  Leipzig  and  New  York  that 
Atget's  work  became  known  to  a  larger  public. 

Erich  Auerbach    b.  191 1 

Born  in  Falkenau  near  Karlsbad  (Bohemia).  Broke 
off  study  of  music  at  Prague  University  and  joined  the 
Prager  Tagblatt  as  music  and  film  critic.  To  fill  a  tem- 
porary need  for  a  staff  photographer,  Auerbach,  already 
an  amateur,  began  photographing  for  this  paper  in  the 
early  1930s  and  in  this  work  found  his  real  vocation.  In 
May  1939  Auerbach  settled  in  London,  where  he  worked 
throughout  the  war  as  photographer  to  the  Czech 
Government  in  exile.  From  1945  until  its  demise  twelve 
years  later  he  was  staff  photographer  to  Illustrated.  Since 
then  Auerbach  works  as  a  free-lance  photographer 
specializing  in  the  arts,  with  emphasis  on  musicians  and 
concert  performances.  He  lives  in  London. 

Piatt  D.  Babbitt 

American  professional  dagucrreotypist  who  held  mono- 
poly for  photography  on  the  American  side  of  the  Niagara 
Falls  in  the  1850s. 

Edouard  Raldus    b.  1820 

Born  in  Westphalia,  Baldus  became  a  naturalized  French- 
man. Originally  a  painter  of  religious  subjects,  he  changed 
to  photography,  specializing  in  architecture.  In  1851 
Baldus  calotyped  historic  buildings  in  Burgundy,  the 
Dauphine  and  Fontainebleau  for  the  Comite  des  Monu- 


ments Historiques.  Soon  afterwards  he  changed  to  the 
wet  collodion  process  and  made  a  complete  documenta- 
tion of  the  new  wing  of  the  Louvre,  taking  no  fewer  than 
1,500  detail  photographs.  Baldus  was  also  well  known  for 
views,  especially  of  mountains,  and  invented  a  photo- 
engraving process  (1854).  The  demand  for  his  large 
mounted  prints  was  adversely  affected  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  carte-de-visite  format. 

H.Walter  Barnett    1 862-1 934 

Born  in  Australia,  Barnett  gave  up  his  portrait  studios 
in  Melbourne  and  Sydney  in  1897  and  after  working  for 
a  time  in  America  settled  in  London.  Established  him- 
self at  Hyde  Park  Corner  as  a  photographer  of  celebrities, 
royalty,  and  society  women.  Barnett's  sepia-toned 
platinotypc  and  carbon  prints  were  accorded  the  highest 
praise. 

Hippolyte  Bayard  1801-87 

Born  at  Breteuil-sur-Noye.  Clerk  in  the  Ministry  of 
Finance,  made  photographic  experiments  from  1837  on; 
redoubled  efforts  in  1839  after  hearing  of  Daguerre's 
success,  and  became  independent  inventor  of  photo- 
graphy on  paper.  Showed  to  Arago  in  May  1839  a  direct 
positive  process  on  paper,  but  on  receipt  of  a  small  sum 
of  money  was  persuaded  to  defer  publication  of  it  until 
further  improved;  in  truth,  in  order  not  to  prejudice 
Arago's  negotiations  with  the  French  Government  in 
connection  with  a  pension  for  Daguerre.  Bayard  ex- 
hibited thirty  photographs  in  June  1839,  but  Daguerre's 
were  considered  more  perfect.  He  did  not  publish  de- 
tails of  his  process  until  February  1840.  A  founder  mem- 
ber of  the  Societe  Francaise  de  Photographie  in  Novem- 
ber 1854,  Bayard  photographed  as  an  amateur  with  every 
process  invented,  including  the  daguerreotype.  He  died 
at  Nemours. 

Richard  Beard 

Originally  a  coal  merchant  and  patent  speculator  in 
London,  Beard  acquired  the  British  rights  in  the  Ameri- 
can mirror  camera  in  June  1840  and  the  daguerreotype 
patent  a  year  later.  Engaged  a  scientist,  J.  F.  Goddard, 
to  speed  up  the  process  and  opened  the  first  public 
photographic  portrait  studio  in  Britain  (probably  in 
Europe)  on  23  March  1841  at  the  Royal  Polytechnic 
Institution,  Regent  Street,  London.  Patented  colouring 
of  daguerreotypes  1842,  and  a  year  later  the  first  photo- 
graphic enlarger.  Made  a  fortune  from  three  London 
and  several  provincial  studios,  plus  licence  fees,  but  was 
ruined  by  litigation  against  infringers  of  the  patent  and 
became  bankrupt  in  1850.  Showed  portraits  at  Great 
Exhibition  1851  and  took  daguerreotypes  for  John  Tallis's 
History  and  Description  of  the  Crystal  Palace  1 85 1  and 
Henry  Mayhew's  social  survey  London  Labour  and  the 
London  Poor  (1851).  Continued  portrait  business  in  his 
City  studio.  Nevertheless  it  is  doubtful  whether  Beard, 
an  entrepreneur,  ever  took  any  photographs  himself. 


232 


Cecil  Beaton    b.  1904 

Born  in  London,  son  of  a  timber  merchant.  Educated  at 
Harrow  and  Cambridge  University.  From  1924  worked 
for  a  few  years  in  a  City  office.  Amateur  photography 
consoled  him  for  this  uncongenial  work.  An  exhibition 
in  Bond  Street  in  1928  of  Beaton's  bizarre  portraits  of 
well-known  people  led  to  a  contract  with  Vogue.  For 
twenty-five  years  Beaton  took  portraits  of  celebrities  and 
fashion  photographs  for  this  magazine  in  London,  Paris 
and  New  York.  Also  photographed  the  royal  family  on 
many  occasions.  Beaton  never  had  a  studio  of  his  own. 
During  World  War  II  photographed  for  the  Ministry  of 
Information  in  the  Middle  and  Far  East.  Today  Beaton 
is  chiefly  active  as  a  designer  of  costumes  and  decor  for 
the  stage  and  films,  his  best-known  creation  being  'My 
Fair  Lady'.  He  also  paints.  Author  of  about  eighteen 
books  illustrated  with  his  drawings  and  photographs 
(portrait,  fashion,  ballet,  travel).  Lives  in  Kensington, 
London,  and  has  a  country  house  near  Salisbury. 

Werner  Bischof  1916-54 

Born  in  Zurich,  son  of  manager  of  a  pharmaceutical  fac- 
tory. After  a  year's  training  as  teacher  of  drawing  and 
sport,  Bischof  took  the  general  course  (including  photo- 
graphy) at  the  Arts  and  Crafts  School  in  Zurich,  1932-6. 
From  1936-9  he  was  a  free-lance  photographer  and  de- 
signer in  Zurich.  Went  to  Paris  to  study  painting  but 
was  recalled  for  military  service.  Released  in  1941, 
Bischof  became  staff  photographer  on  the  Swiss  maga- 
zine Du  1942-5,  for  which  he  made  in  1945  his  first 
reportages  on  refugees  and  the  war-ruined  districts  of 
France,  Holland  and  Germany.  From  1946-9  free- 
lance reportage  photography  for  Life  and  other  illus- 
trated papers  took  Bischof  to  practically  every  European 
country.  Joined  Magnum  group  1949.  Worked  for  Life 
in  India,  Japan  and  Korea  195 1-2;  made  war  reportage 
in  Indochina.  In  autumn  1953  worked  for  Fortune 
magazine  in  U.S.A.  Started  in  1954  on  a  tour  of  Mexico, 
Panama  and  Chile.  Bischof  died  in  May  when  car 
crashed  in  the  Andes  during  a  tour  of  the  Amazon 
region.  Published  Japan  (1954),  Incas  to  Indians  (T957), 
Unterwegs  (1957). 

Louis  Auguste  Bisson  b.  1814  and  Auguste  Rosalie 
Bisson    b.  1826 

Bisson  Freres,  sons  of  an  heraldic  artist,  started  one  of 
the  earliest  photographic  firms  in  Paris,  opening  a 
daguerreotype  studio  in  1841.  Besides  taking  portraits, 
the  brothers  were  considered  the  best  French  architec- 
tural photographers,  and  noted  for  their  art  reproduc- 
tions and  Alpine  views.  Auguste  Bisson  was  the  first  to 
photograph  from  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc  in  July 
1 86 1.  After  a  three-day  ascent  from  Chamonix  with 
twenty-five  porters  to  carry  the  equipment  for  the  wet 
collodion  process,  he  managed  to  take  three  pictures. 
Like  Lc  Gray  (whose  studio  was  in  the  same  house)  the 
Bissons  were  ruined  by  the  cheap  carte-de-visite,  since 
the  demand  for  large  mounted  prints  declined  with  the 


fashion  for  collecting  cartes  of  views  in  albums.  The 
Bisson  brothers  were  founder  members  of  the  Societe 
Francaise  de  Photographic 

Fred  Boissonnas  1858-1947 

Born  at  Geneva,  son  of  Henri  Boissonnas,  a  photo- 
grapher. Studied  photography  at  Budapest  and  Stutt- 
gart. Fred  Boissonnas  took  over  the  management  of  his 
father's  studio  in  Geneva  in  1888,  and  eventually  opened 
branch  establishments  in  Paris,  Lyon,  Marseille,  Rheims 
and  St  Petersburg.  With  his  brother  Edmond,  a  chemist, 
manufactured  orthochromatic  plates  and  obtained  the 
first  successful  photographs  of  Mont  Blanc  from  Geneva. 
Made  a  series  of  fancy  studies,  e.g.  'Faust',  for  exhibi- 
tions. In  1902  Lord  Napier  commissioned  Boissonnas 
to  photograph  Mount  Parnassos,  and  during  numerous 
journeys  in  Greece  he  took  several  thousand  negatives. 
Published  several  books  on  that  country,  best  known 
being  En  Grece  par  Mont  et  par  Vaux  with  text  by  D.  B. 
Bovy.  King  Fuad  commissioned  from  Boissonnas  a 
similar  work  on  Egypt,  which  he  undertook  at  the  age 
of  75,  spending  fifteen  months  travelling  from  the  Delta 
to  the  Sudan.  He  died  in  Geneva. 

Bill  Brandt    b.  1905 

Born  in  London,  brought  up  in  Germany.  Brandt 
learned  photography  from  Man  Ray  in  Paris  1929-30, 
opened  a  portrait  studio  there,  but  influenced  by  the 
work  of  Atget,  Carticr-Brcsson  and  Brassai,  changed  to 
reportage.  Settled  in  London  in  193 1  as  freelance  photo- 
grapher. During  the  depression  documented  the  in- 
dustrial North.  One-man  show  in  Paris  1938  organized 
by  the  Arts  ct  Metiers  Graphiqucs.  During  the  blitz  took 
pictures  in  air  raid  shelters  for  the  Home  Office.  After 
the  war  Brandt  took  'at  home'  portraits  of  celebrities, 
architecture  and  landscapes,  frequently  for  English  and 
American  magazines.  Brandt  lives  in  London.  Published 
The  English  at  Home  (1936),  A  Night  in  London  (1938), 
Camera  in  London  (1948),  Literary  Britain  (1951),  Per- 
spective of  Nudes  (1961). 

Brassai  (pseudonym  for  Gyula  Halasz)  b.  1899 
Born  in  Brasso,  Hungary,  Brassai  originally  wanted  to  be 
a  painter  and  studied  art  in  Budapest  and  Berlin,  but 
settled  in  Paris  as  a  journalist  in  1924.  Six  years  later  he 
changed  to  photography  and  became  known  for  his 
photographs  of  Paris  by  night  and  'candid'  pictures  of 
Parisians  in  unguarded  moments.  Published  several 
books  including  Paris  de  Nuit  (1933),  Camera  in  Paris 
(1949)  and  Fiesta  in  Seville  (1956).  A  collection  of  his 
photographs  was  published  under  the  title  'Brassai' 
(1952).  Encouraged  by  Picasso,  took  up  drawing  again 
during  the  German  occupation;  published  a  selection  in 
1946.  Made  photographic  decors  for  the  ballet  'Les 
Rendezvous'  and  for  the  play  'En  Passant'. 

Maurice  Bucquet  (?)-i92i 

French  amateur  photographer  between  1888  and  1914 


233 


As  founder-member  and  president  of  the  Photo-Club  de 
Paris  (1890)  Bucquet  played  an  important  part  in  the 
development  of  artistic  photography  in  France.  He  was 
an  advocate  of  straightforward  photography. 

Henry  Herschel  Hay  Cameron 

Youngest  son  of  Julia  Margaret  Cameron  and  the  only 
one  to  make  photography  his  profession,  after  having 
been  a  teaplanter  in  Ceylon.  Opened  a  portrait  studio  in 
Mortimer  Street,  London,  about  1885.  Cameron's  por- 
traits of  celebrities  betray  unmistakably  the  influence  of 
his  mother's  style.  Illustrated  Lady  Ritchie's  book  Alfred, 
Lord  Tennyson  and  His  Friends  (1893).  Gave  up  photo- 
graphy c.  1900  to  become  an  actor  in  London  and  the 
provinces. 

Julia  Margaret  Cameron  1815-79 
Born  in  Calcutta  of  an  English  father  and  a  French 
mother,  Julia  Pattle  married  in  1838  Charles  Hay 
Cameron,  a  distinguished  jurist  and  member  of  the 
Supreme  Council  of  India.  When  Cameron  retired  in 
1848  and  settled  in  England,  first  at  Tunbridge  Wells, 
later  at  Putney  Heath,  their  house  became  a  centre  of 
intellectual  society.  In  i860  they  bought  a  house  at 
Freshwater,  Isle  of  Wight,  and  here  in  1863  Mrs 
Cameron  taught  herself  photography.  Her  first  success 
dates  from  January  1864.  At  'Dimbola'  (now  a  hotel) 
she  photographed  most  of  the  famous  Victorians  visiting 
Tennyson,  her  friend  and  neighbour.  A  great  eccentric, 
Mrs  Cameron  had  little  use  for  convention,  and  this 
comes  out  in  her  very  original  photographs.  At  Tenny- 
son's request  she  made  twenty-four  illustrations  to  The 
Idylls  of  the  King,  which  were  published  in  two  volumes 
in  1874  and  1875.  Sold  her  portraits  and  composition 
photographs  at  P.  &  D.  Colnaghi,  the  London  print- 
sellers.  Took  part  in  numerous  exhibitions  and  had  two 
one-man  shows  in  London  in  1866  and  1868.  The  photo- 
graphs of  this  famous  amateur  did  not  find  favour  in 
photographic  circles  but  won  highest  praise  from  artists, 
including  G.  F.  Watts.  In  1875  the  Camerons  went  to 
live  on  one  of  their  coffee  estates  in  Ceylon.  Here  Mrs 
Cameron  took  only  rather  ordinary  straightforward 
portraits  of  natives.  She  died  at  Kalatura,  Ceylon.  Her 
autobiographical  manuscript  Annals  of  My  Glass  House, 
written  in  1874,  was  posthumously  published  as  part  of 
an  exhibition  catalogue  of  her  photographs  in  1889. 

Etienne  Carjat    1 828-1 906 

Born  at  Fareins.  Caricaturist,  writer,  and  editor  of  Le 
Boulevard  1862-3,  Carjat  also  photographed  celebrities 
during  the  years  1855-c.  1875.  His  first  studio  was  in 
the  Rue  Lafitte.  Undeservedly  overshadowed  by  Nadar's 
great  name.  Died  in  Paris. 

Lewis  Carroll  (pseudonym)  1832-97 
Born  at  Daresbury  Parsonage,   Cheshire,  the  Rev 
Charles  Lutwidge  Dodgson,  lecturer  on  mathematics  at 
Christ  Church,  Oxford,  is  better  known  under  his 


pseudonym  as  author  of  the  immortal  Alice  books. 
Photography  was  his  chief  hobby,  and  favourite  subjects 
were  his  child  friends,  usually  pretty  little  girls.  He  was 
also  an  inveterate  lion-hunter  and  pursued  many  a 
celebrity  with  his  camera.  Lewis  Carroll's  copious  diary- 
entries  referring  to  photography  show  that  his  activities 
in  this  field  ranged  over  the  period  1856-80,  and  my 
rediscovery  in  1947  of  his  extremely  fine  photographic 
work  proves  him  to  have  been  the  best  photographer  of 
children  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Wrote  Photography 
Extraordinary  (1855),  Hiawatha's  Photographing  (1857), 
A  Photographer's  Day  Out  (i860).  Died  at  Guildford. 

Henri  Cartier-Bresson    b.  1908 

Born  at  Chanteloup,  son  of  a  businessman.  At  the  age 
of  twenty  decided  against  entering  family  business  and 
studied  painting  for  two  years  under  Andre  Lhote.  In- 
fluenced by  Man  Ray  and  Atget's  work,  decided  to 
become  a  reportage  photographer,  and  his  outstanding 
gifts  were  immediately  evident  in  his  unusual  photo- 
graphs of  Spain  1933,  Mexico  1934,  New  York  1935. 
Returned  to  France  and  worked  as  assistant  to  film 
director  Jean  Renoir  1936-9  (Tartie  de  Campagne'  1937, 
'La  Regie  du  Jeu'  1939).  Also  made  a  documentary  on 
Spanish  hospitals  during  Civil  War.  Served  in  film  and 
photo  unit  and  captured  by  Germans  June  1940.  After 
three  years  as  prisoner  of  war  escaped  and  organized 
underground  photographic  units  to  document  German 
occupation  of  France  and  retreat.  After  the  war  worked 
on  a  film  'Le  Retour'  showing  the  return  to  France  of 
prisoners  of  war  and  deportees.  One-man  show  at 
Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York,  1946  ;  founder 
member  of  Magnum  photo  group  1947.  Photographed 
in  Far  East  1948-50:  Civil  War  in  China,  Gandhi's 
funeral  in  India;  Burma,  Indonesia,  Iran,  Egypt.  To 
Moscow  1954.  Exhibition  of  Cartier-Bresson's  photo- 
graphs opened  at  the  Louvre  1957,  afterwards  shown  in 
many  West  European  countries,  Japan  and  U.S.  Pub- 
lished Images  a  la  Sauvette  (1952),  China  in  Transition 
(1956),  Danses  a  Bali  (1954),  The  Europeans  (1955), 
People  of  Moscow  (1955). 

Winifred  Casson    b.  c.  1900 

English  woman  professional  portrait  and  advertising 
photographer.  Self-taught,  she  had  a  studio  in  King's 
Road,  Chelsea,  London,  in  the  1930s. 

Antoine  Jean  Frangois  Claudet,  F.R.S.  1797-1867 
Born  at  Lyons,  settled  in  London  in  1827  as  importer  of 
sheet  glass  and  glass  domes.  Learned  Daguerre's  process 
from  the  inventor  in  1839,  privately  purchasing  licence  to 
use  it  in  England.  Sole  importer  of  French  daguerreotype 
pictures  and  Daguerre's  apparatus  until  1841.  Com- 
municated to  Royal  Society  method  of  accelerating  the 
daguerreotype  process,  and  opened  second  studio  in 
Britain,  at  the  Royal  Adelaide  Gallery,  London,  June 
1 841.  The  innumerable  improvements  in  photographic 
apparatus  and  processes  introduced  by  Claudet  make 


234 


him  the  most  eminent  photographic  scientist  of  his  day. 
He  was  also  the  leading  daguerreotypist  in  Britain,  the 
first  to  use  and  the  last  to  abandon  the  process,  in  1858. 
A  great  protagonist  of  stereoscopic  photography,  Claudet 
largely  contributed  to  the  popularity  of  Sir  David 
Brewster's  instrument  in  the  1850s.  Appointed  photo- 
grapher to  Queen  Victoria  and  elected  F.R.S.  1853; 
Chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honour  1865.  Exhibitor  at, 
and  Juror  of,  several  international  exhibitions.  Died  in 
London. 

Charles  Clifford  (?)-i863 

An  Englishman  living  in  Madrid,  Clifford  took  up 
photography  in  the  early  1850s,  working  with  the  Calo- 
type  and  collodion  processes.  He  is  chiefly  known  for 
large  exhibition  prints  depicting  the  beauty  of  Spanish 
architecture  and  scenery,  and  the  Treasure  of  the  Dau- 
phin now  at  the  Prado  Museum.  Published  several 
albums  of  photographs  including  Vistas  del  Capricho 
(1856) — fifty  views  of  the  Palace  of  the  Dukes  del 
Infantado  at  Guadalajara — and  Voyage  en  Espagne  (1858). 
In  1861  Queen  Isabella  II  sent  Clifford,  her  court  photo- 
grapher, to  Windsor  to  take  a  regal  portrait  of  Queen 
Victoria,  which  was  subsequently  copied  as  an  oil  paint- 
ing. Clifford  died  in  Madrid  while  preparing  another 
publication,  Scrambles  Through  Spain. 

Alvin  Langdon  Coburn    b.  1882 

Born  in  Boston,  Mass.  Studied  art.  Was  introduced  to 
photography  by  his  cousin  F.  Holland  Day  with  whom 
he  came  to  Europe  in  1900.  First  exhibited  that  year  at 
the  London  Salon.  Founder  member  of  Photo-Secession 
1902.  Coburn  established  his  reputation  in  England  with 
one-man  shows  in  London  1906  and  191 3.  Arranged  an 
exhibition  of  the  Old  Masters  of  photography  at  the 
Albright  Art  Gallery,  Buffalo,  in  1915.  Illustrated 
Henry  James's  Novels  and  Tales  (1909),  books  on  New 
York  (1910),  London  (1914)  and  others.  Published  series 
of  hand-photogravure  portraits  of  English  and  French 
celebrities  under  the  title  Men  of  Mark  (1913)  and  More 
Men  of  Mark  (1922).  Took  the  first  abstract  photographs 
('Vortographs')  January  1917.  Since  1918  Coburn  has 
lived  in  North  Wales. 

Louis  Jacques  Monde  Daguerre  1 787-1 85 1 
Born  at  Cormeilles-en-Parisis,  son  of  a  crier  at  the  local 
magistrate's  court.  Artist  and  stage  designer.  Inventor 
with  Charles-Marie  Bouton  of  the  Diorama  and  manager 
of  the  Paris  establishment  in  which  these  enormous  semi- 
transparent  landscape  and  architectural  views  were  ex- 
hibited by  changing  light  and  sometimes  accompanied  by 
sound  effects  to  heighten  the  illusion  of  reality.  Exhibited 
six  paintings  at  the  Paris  Salon  between  1814  and  1840. 
Experimented  without  success  with  photography  prior  to 
entering  into  partnership  with  Nicephore  Niepce  in 
December  1829.  Based  on  Niepce's  Heliography, 
Daguerre  worked  out  by  1837  a  process  so  different  that 
he  felt  justified  in  calling  it  daguerreotype.  By  developing 


the  latent  image  he  cut  down  Niepce's  exposure  time  of 
eight  hours  to  twenty  minutes.  Diorama  burned  down 
3  March  1839.  Through  the  influence  of  the  scientist  and 
Deputy  Francois  Arago,  the  French  Government  ac- 
quired the  epoch-making  invention  in  exchange  for  life 
pensions  to  Daguerre  and  Niepce's  son,  and  gave  it  'free 
to  the  world'  on  19  August  1839.  Five  days  earlier  it  had 
been  patented  in  England!  Daguerre  was  awarded  many 
honours,  including  the  Legion  of  Honour  and  the  Prus- 
sian Pour  le  Merite.  His  manual  on  the  daguerreotype 
process  published  in  eight  languages  went  into  no  fewer 
than  thirty-two  editions  in  1839  and  1840.  Daguerre 
bought  a  small  estate  at  Bry-sur-Marne  1840,  where  he 
lived  in  retirement  until  his  death. 

George  Davison    1 856- 1930 

English  civil  servant  and  amateur  photographer.  Fol- 
lower of  Emerson's  naturalistic  photography;  then 
founded  in  1890  the  impressionistic  'school'  of  photo- 
graphy. Founder  member  of  the  Linked  Ring  1892. 
Davison  became  in  1898  managing  director  of  Kodak 
Ltd.,  from  which  position  he  was  asked  to  resign  in  1912 
owing  to  his  anarchist  activities.  His  house  at  Harlech 
was  henceforth  headquarters  of  the  movement.  Died  at 
Antibcs,  where  he  used  to  winter. 

Philip  Henry  Delamotte  1820-89 
A  designer  and  artist  living  in  London,  Delamotte  took 
up  the  Calotype  process  in  the  late  1840s.  Started  in 
1853  the  first  printing  service  from  amateurs'  negatives 
in  Britain.  Appointed  professor  of  drawing  at  King's 
College,  London,  1856.  The  following  year  organized  the 
photographic  department  of  the  Manchester  Art  Treas- 
ures Exhibition — the  first  exhibition  at  which  photo- 
graphy was  shown  together  with  paintings,  drawings  and 
sculpture.  Delamotte  illustrated  a  large  number  of  books 
with  his  drawings  or  photographs,  published  two  photo- 
graphic manuals  (1853  and  1856)  and  edited  The  Sun- 
beam: a  Photographic  Magazine  1857-9.  His  magnum  opus 
is  the  documentation  of  the  re-erection  of  the  Crystal 
Palace  at  Sydenham  in  160  views,  published  1855. 

Robert  Demachy  (?)-l937 

Banker,  amateur  painter  and  prominent  amateur 
photographer  living  in  Paris.  Popularized  the  gum 
print  1896,  and  exhibited  1 894-1924  portraits  and 
landscapes  with  figures  in  the  impressionist  style. 
Founder  member  of  the  Photo-Club  de  Paris  and  leader 
of  the  aesthetic  movement  in  photography  in  France. 
Member  of  the  Linked  Ring.  Published  with  Alfred 
Maskell  Photo- Aquatint  or  the  Gum-Bichromate  Process, 
London,  1897,  and  with  C.  Puyo  Les  Procedes  d'Art  en 
Photographie,  Paris,  1906. 

Andre  Adolphe  Eugene  Disderi    1819-c.  1890 
Of  humble  birth  and  little  education,  Disderi  worked  as 
assistant  in  his  father's  draper's  shop  in  the  provinces. 
About  1 85 1  he  became  a  photographer  at  Brest,  later 


235 


Nimes.  Borrowed  money  in  1852  to  start  a  big  portrait 
studio  in  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens,  Paris.  Applied  for 
patent  in  November  1854  for  a  method  of  taking  what 
were  later  called  carte-de-visite  photographs,  which  were 
made  fashionable  in  1859  by  Napoleon  III,  who  ap- 
pointed Disderi  court  photographer.  By  1861  Disderi 
was  the  richest  photographer  in  Europe,  making  £48,000 
a  year  from  his  Paris  studio  alone.  Also  had  branches  in 
London,  Toulon  and  Madrid,  and  was  appointed  photo- 
grapher to  Queen  Victoria,  the  Queen  of  Spain  and  the 
Czar.  Published  L'Art  de  la  Photographie  1862.  A  typical 
parvenu,  Disderi  dissipated  his  fortune  with  building 
speculations  and  racing  stables,  and  ended  as  a  beach 
photographer  at  Monaco.  Died  in  the  poor-house  at  Nice. 

Edward  Draper 

English  amateur  photographer  in  the  1860s. 
Harold  E.  Edgerton    b.  1903 

American  scientist  at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology.  Inventor  in  193 1  of  an  electronic  flashlamp 
with  which  it  is  possible  to  analyse  the  fastest  move- 
ments in  a  series  of  stroboscopic  photographs,  or  to 
record  the  whole  movement  on  one  film. 

Edmiston 

Advertising  photographer  in  the  Strand,  London,  in  the 
1930s. 

Peter  Henry  Emerson  1 856-1 936 
Born  in  Cuba  of  an  American  father  and  an  English 
mother.  After  the  death  of  his  father,  a  doctor,  the  family 
settled  in  Southwold,  Suffolk,  in  1869.  Emerson  was 
educated  at  Cambridge,  studied  medicine  and  took  M.B. 
degree  1885.  Abandoned  his  career  the  following  year  in 
order  to  devote  himself  to  writing  and  photography, 
having  been  an  amateur  since  1882.  Published  between 
1886-95  seven  photographically-illustrated  books  on  the 
life  and  landscape  of  East  Anglia  and  founded  a  'school' 
of  naturalistic  photography  in  reaction  against  old- 
fashioned  pictorialism.  Emerson's  book  Naturalistic 
Photography  (1889)  and  still  more  his  recantation  The 
Death  of  Naturalistic  Photography  (1891)  created  a  sensa- 
tion not  warranted  by  his  photographs.  As  rocket-like  as 
he  had  risen,  Emerson  vanished  from  the  photographic 
scene  after  a  retrospective  exhibition  of  his  photographs 
in  1900.  Published  a  family  history  The  English  Emersons 
(1 898-1925).  Died  at  Falmouth. 

William  England  (?)-i896 

Started  as  a  dagucrreotypist  in  London  in  the  mid  'for- 
ties. Gave  up  portraiture  and  in  1854  joined  the  newly- 
formed  London  Stereoscopic  Co.  for  which  he  took 
thousands  of  stereoscopic  views  in  Ireland,  America, 
France,  Switzerland  and  at  the  International  Exhibition 
in  London  1862.  These  were  published  under  the  firm's 
name.  After  making  himself  independent  in  1 863  Eng- 
land began  his  famous  series  of  views  in  Switzerland,  the 


Tyrol,  and  Italy,  adding  new  pictures  every  summer  for 
thirty  years.  They  were  sold  on  the  Continent  as  well  as 
in  Britain,  and  brought  England  renown  as  one  of  the 
leading  landscape  photographers.  Published  c.  1864  an 
album  containing  seventy-seven  photographs  entitled 
Panoramic  Views  of  Switzerland,  Savoy  and  Italy. 
Invented  focal  plane  shutter  with  variable  slit  (1861). 
Died  in  London. 

Hugo  Erfurth  1874-1948 

Born  at  Halle  (Saale).  After  studying  at  the  commercial 
school  in  Dresden  Erfurth  learned  photography  at  a  local 
portrait  studio.  Studied  art  for  a  few  terms,  and  from 
1896  onward  was  a  professional  portrait  photographer  in 
Dresden,  and  supporter  of  the  aesthetic  movement  in 
Germany.  Erfurth  made  only  gum  prints  and  later  oil- 
pigment  prints.  In  the  1920s  he  became  the  most  cele- 
brated portrait  photographer  of  the  German  intelli- 
gentsia. In  1934  Erfurth  moved  his  studio  to  Cologne, 
where  he  was  bombed  out  in  1943;  luckily  his  photo- 
graphic archive  and  graphic  art  collection,  being  in  a 
bank  safe,  survived.  With  redoubled  vigour  he  tried  to 
build  up  a  new  existence  at  Gaienhofen  on  the  Lake  of 
Constance,  where  he  died. 

Frederick  Henry  Evans  1 852-1943 
Bookseller  in  the  City  of  London  until  1898,  when  he 
became  a  professional  photographer,  having  been  an 
amateur  since  c.  1882.  From  about  1895  took  portraits 
of  a  number  of  literary  and  artistic  friends  including 
Aubrey  Bcardslcy,  whom  he  set  on  his  career  as  an  illus- 
trator; William  Morris  for  whom  he  photographed 
Kelmscott  Manor  (1898)  and  G.  B.  Shaw  who  staged  for 
him  a  special  'camera'  performance  of  Mrs  Warren's 
Profession  in  1902.  Justly  famous  for  his  numerous 
photographs  of  English  cathedrals  begun  in  1896  with 
Lincoln,  later  continued  for  Country  Life,  for  which 
magazine  Evans  also  photographed  many  of  the  famous 
French  chateaux  and  cathedrals  before  1914.  Member 
of  the  Linked  Ring  1 901.  Believed  in  pure  technique  and 
gave  up  photography  when  platinum  paper  became  un- 
obtainable after  World  War  I.  Evans  died  two  days 
before  his  ninety-first  birthday  at  his  house  in  Acton, 
London. 

Walker  Evans    b.  1903 

Born  at  St  Louis,  Missouri.  In  1930  Evans  began  photo- 
graphing Victorian  and  indigenous  architecture,  especi- 
ally in  New  England.  Illustrated  Hart  Crane's  The  Bridge 
(1930)  and  Carleton  Beal's  The  Crime  of  Cuba  (1933). 
Made  500  photographs  of  African  negro  art  for  distribu- 
tion to  colleges  and  libraries  (1935).  Evans'  most  out- 
standing work  was  his  photo-documentation  in  1935-6 
of  the  poverty-stricken  Southern  States  for  the  Govern- 
ment's social  programme  known  later  as  Farm  Security 
Administration.  One-man  show  at  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York  (1938)  which  the  same  year  published 
eighty-seven  of  the  most  striking  photographs  under  the 


236 


title  American  Photographs.  Guggenheim  Fellowship 
1940.  Illustrated  James  Agee's  Let  Us  Now  Praise  Famous 
Men:  a  study  of  tenant  families  (1941).  Evans  is  now 
associate  editor  of  Fortune  magazine,  New  York. 

Roger  Fen  ton  1819-69 

Born  at  Crimble  Hall,  Lancashire,  son  of  the  first  M.P. 
for  Rochdale,  Fenton  took  an  M.A.  degree  at  University 
College,  London.  He  came  into  contact  with  photo- 
graphy in  the  early  1840s  when  studying  art  under  Paul 
Dclaroche  in  Paris.  Later  studied  law  and  was  called  to 
the  bar  in  London,  but  found  renewed  interest  in 
painting,  exhibiting  three  anecdotal  pictures  at  the 
Royal  Academy  between  1849-51.  At  this  period  Fenton 
became  so  engrossed  by  photography  that  he  changed 
his  profession.  A  member  of  the  Calotype  Club  founded 
in  1847,  one  of  Fenton's  earliest  commissions  was  to 
record  in  1851  the  work  in  progress  on  the  suspension 
bridge  over  the  Dnieper  at  Kiev  being  constructed  by 
Charles  Vignoles,  a  fellow  member  of  the  Club.  Suc- 
ceeded in  forming  the  Photographic  Society  of  London 
(now  the  Royal  Photographic  Society  of  Great  Britain) 
January  1853,  and  was  its  first  secretary.  Five  years  later 
appointed  Vice  President.  Fenton  won  an  international 
reputation  by  his  landscapes  and  views  of  English  cathe- 
drals, still-lifes,  etc.;  also  photographed  drawings  and 
classical  sculpture  at  the  British  Museum,  and  took  in- 
timate portraits  of  the  royal  family.  Fenton's  fame  rests, 
however,  on  his  360  photographs  of  the  Crimean  War — 
the  first  war  photo-reportage — undertaken  for  the  Man- 
chester publisher  Thomas  Agnew.  Illustrated  several 
books  with  his  photographs.  In  1862  at  the  height  of  his 
fame  Fenton  gave  up  photography,  probably  because  he 
disliked  its  increasing  commercialization.  He  resumed 
his  legal  career,  becoming  solicitor  to  the  Stock  Ex- 
change. Died  at  his  house  near  Regents  Park,  London. 

Francis  Frith  1822-98 

Born  at  Chesterfield,  Derbyshire,  in  his  youth  Frith  was 
in  the  wholesale  grocery  trade  at  Liverpool.  In  1850  he 
bought  a  partnership  in  a  printing  firm  there — Frith  & 
Hayward — which  nine  years  later  was  moved  to  Reigate, 
and  a  photographic  printing  department  added.  One  of 
seven  founder  members  of  the  Liverpool  Photographic 
Society  in  March  1853,  Frith's  interest  was  from  1855 
onward  entirely  absorbed  by  photography.  Within  a  few 
years  he  became  a  leading  landscape  photographer  as 
well  as  the  largest  publisher  of  English  and  foreign 
views.  A  catalogue  of  'Frith's  Photo-Pictures'  issued 
between  1888-92  runs  to  682  pages  listing  a  few  hundred 
thousand  views.  Frith's  finest  work  is  contained  in  a 
number  of  publications  arising  from  three  extensive 
tours  of  Egypt,  Nubia,  Palestine  and  Syria  between  1856 
and  i860.  Frith  was  his  own  publisher  of  several  photo- 
graphically-illustrated books,  issued  portfolios  of  his 
photographs  of  Germany,  the  Tyrol,  Switzerland,  Italy, 
Gibraltar,  Spain  and  Portugal,  illustrated  The  Queen's 
Bible,  an  edition  of  Longfellow's  Hyperion  (1865)  and 


several  other  works.  The  photographic  printing  for  all 
these  publications  was  carried  out  by  his  firm  Francis 
Frith  &  Co.  at  Reigate,  which  is  still  in  existence.  Frith 
died  at  Reigate. 

Dr  Arnold  Genthe  1868-1942 

Born  in  Berlin,  son  of  a  professor  of  classical  languages. 
After  obtaining  the  D.Ph.  degree  at  Jena  University 
Genthe  settled  in  San  Francisco  in  1895.  Became 
interested  in  photography  as  a  hobby,  and  two  years 
later  opened  a  professional  portrait  studio.  Moved  in 
191 1  to  New  York  where  he  was  prominent  as  a  photo- 
grapher of  stage  and  film  actors  and  other  celebrities. 
Genthe  made  excellent  reportages  of  the  Chinese  quarter 
of  San  Francisco  and  of  the  earthquake  and  fire  in  1906, 
and  on  his  many  travels  in  foreign  lands.  Published 
Pictures  of  Old  Chinatown  (1913)  and  autobiography 
As  I  Remember  (1937). 

Helmut  Gernsheim    b.  1913 

Born  in  Munich,  son  of  a  historian  of  literature.  Studied 
history  of  art  at  Munich  University  1933  but  conditions 
in  Germany  decided  him  to  change  to  photography. 
After  two-year  course  at  State  School  of  Photography 
1934-6  learned  Uvachrome  colour  process  and  settled 
in  London  1937  as  free-lance  colour  photographer.  In- 
terned in  1940  and  sent  to  Australia,  returned  seventeen 
months  later.  1942-5  undertook  photographic  surveys  of 
historic  buildings  and  monuments  in  the  London  area 
for  the  Warburg  Institute,  London  University.  At  the 
suggestion  of  Beaumont  Ncwhall,  Gernsheim  started  in 
1945  photo-historical  collection.  Gave  up  active  photo- 
graphy 1947  to  devote  time  to  research  and  writing.  Re- 
discovered the  work  of  many  British  photographers  and 
the  world's  first  photograph  by  Nicpcc.  Arranged  ex- 
hibition 'Masterpieces  of  Victorian  Photography  from 
the  Gernsheim  Collection'  at  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum  (1951),  and  'A  Century  of  Photography',  the 
first  photographic  exhibition  to  be  shown  in  art  museums 
in  many  West  European  countries.  Recipient  of  German 
Kulturpreis  der  Photographie  1959.  Published  sixteen 
books  on  photo  and  general  historical  subjects,  several 
in  collaboration  with  his  wife.  They  include  New  Photo 
Vision  (1942),  The  History  of  Photography  (1955)  and 
four  illustrated  biographies  of  great  nineteenth-century 
photographers.  Lives  near  Regent's  Park,  London. 

Joseph-Philibert  Girault  de  Prangey  1804-92 
Born  at  Langres,  Burgundy.  Landowner  and  expert  on 
Arabian  history  and  architecture.  Author  of  Monuments 
arabes  et  moresques  de  Cordoue,  Seville  et  Grenade  (1836), 
Essai  sur  V architecture  des  Arabes  et  des  Mores  en  Espagne, 
en  Sidle  et  en  Barbarie  (1841),  Monuments  arabes 
d'Egypte,  de  Syrie  et  d'Asie  Mineure  (1846),  the  last- 
named  containing  illustrations  copied  from  his  daguerre- 
otypes. Learned  the  daguerreotype  process  in  1841, 
travelled  in  Italy,  Egypt,  Syria,  Palestine,  Asia  Minor 
and  Greece,  1842-4,  returning  with  over  1,000  daguer- 


237 


reotypes  to  his  estate  near  Langres,  where  he  lived  as  a 
recluse.  Girault's  daguerreotypes  are  unusually  large  for 
the  earliest  years  of  the  process  and  the  architectural 
and  landscape  subjects  are  rare,  for  Europe.  Initiator  of 
the  Archeological  Society  and  Museum  of  Antiquities  of 
Langres  1834  and  1838  respectively.  Died  at  his  villa 
Courcelles  near  Langres. 

William  Morris  Grundy  1806-59 
Born  in  Birmingham,  son  of  a  patent-leather  manu- 
facturer. Joined  family  business.  Lived  from  1850  on- 
ward at  Sutton  Coldfield,  where  he  died.  Took  up 
photography  as  a  hobby  about  1855  and  became  known 
for  his  series  of  stereoscopic  genre  pictures  entitled  'Rural 
England'.  An  anthology  of  poetry  posthumously  pub- 
lished under  the  title  Sunshine  in  the  Country  in  1861 
is  illustrated  with  twenty  of  Grundy's  photographs. 

Arno  Hammacher    b.  1927 

Born  at  The  Hague,  son  of  an  art  museum  director. 
Studied  publicity  at  the  Hague  Academy  1950-3  and 
worked  for  four  years  as  graphic  designer  at  a  type- 
foundry.  Amateur  photographer,  published  Van  Gogh, 
the  land  where  he  was  born  and  raised:  a  photographic 
study  (1954).  In  1957  Hammacher  moved  to  Milan  and 
began  career  as  an  industrial  photographer.  Also  made 
reportage  of  the  construction  of  the  Milan  underground. 
Active  as  a  designer  and  reportage  photographer. 

Hans  Hammarskiold    b.  1925 
Caroline  Hammarskiold   b.  1930 

Born  in  Stockholm,  son  of  a  businessman,  Hans 
Hammarskiold  for  a  short  time  learned  cinematography 
before  becoming  from  1947-8  a  pupil  of  Rolf  Winquist 
in  his  Stockholm  portrait  studio.  Afterwards  assistant  in 
Bellander's  studio  for  another  year  before  branching  out 
on  his  own.  In  1952  Hammarskiold's  nature  photo- 
graphs won  the  coveted  'Svenska  Dagbladct'  prize, 
awarded  to  his  wife  Caroline,  an  amateur  photographer, 
the  following  year.  Staff  photographer  on  Vogue  in 
London  1954-6.  Since  then,  fashion  and  advertising 
photographer  in  Stockholm;  member  of  the  Swedish 
group  of  ten  free-lance  photographers  'Tio'.  Published 
two  topographical  books  on  Swedish  scenery  (195 1  and 
1953)5  Objektivt  sett  (1955)  and  two  little  photographic 
story  books  for  children  1959  and  i960. 

Bert  Hardy    b.  1913 

Born  in  London,  worked  from  age  of  thirteen  for  a  small 
developing  and  printing  firm,  at  first  as  messenger  boy, 
later  as  darkroom  assistant.  Taught  himself  photography 
and  supplemented  his  meagre  wages  by  selling  odd 
photographs  and  doing  D.  and  P.  work  at  night  at  home. 
A  successful  picture  of  George  VI's  coronation  drive 
gave  Hardy  the  idea  of  becoming  a  free-lance  press 
photographer  for  a  Fleet  Street  Agency  in  1937.  Three 
years  later  he  joined  Picture  Post  on  free-lance  basis. 
1942-6  served  with  the  Army  Photographic  Unit  in  the 


Far  East.  Returned  to  Picture  Post  September  1946, 
eventually  becoming  their  chief  photographer  until  the 
magazine  ceased  publication  in  June  1957.  In  1950 
Hardy  produced  eight  features  on  the  Korean  War,  for 
one  of  which  he  received  Encyclopedia  Britannica  prize. 
Now  has  his  own  firm  in  Fleet  Street,  working  chiefly  for 
big  industry. 

Viscountess  Hawarden  1822-65 

Born  at  Cumberweald  House  near  Glasgow,  Clementina 
Hawarden  was  a  distinguished  amateur  photographer, 
especially  of  children,  and  exhibitor  1860-4.  Died  in 
London. 

David  Octavius  Hill  1802-70 

Son  of  a  stationer  and  bookseller  in  Perth,  Hill  learned 
the  new  technique  of  lithography  and  his  Sketches  of 
Scenery  in  Perthshire  drawn  from  nature  and  on  stone 
(1821)  is  one  of  the  earliest  British  publications  in  this 
medium.  A  pupil  of  Andrew  Wilson,  Hill  exhibited  291 
paintings  and  sketches  at  the  Institution  for  the  En- 
couragement of  the  Fine  Arts  in  Scotland  and  at  the 
Royal  Scottish  Academy — of  which  he  was  a  founder 
member  and  secretary  for  forty  years — and  four  paintings 
at  the  Royal  Academy  in  London.  Engravings  copied 
from  Hill's  paintings  illustrated  the  works  of  James 
Hogg  ('The  Ettrick  Shepherd')  and  The  Land  of  Burns 
(1840).  In  May  1843  Hill  turned  to  photography  to  make 
portrait  studies  for  a  painting  to  commemorate  the  re- 
signation of  474  ministers  from  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
entering  into  partnership  with  Robert  Adamson,  who 
had  shortly  before  opened  a  Calotype  studio  in  Edin- 
burgh. At  Rock  House,  Calton  Hill,  they  photographed 
many  distinguished  people  in  addition  to  the  ministers. 
After  the  death  of  Adamson,  Hill  took  up  painting  again. 
He  died  at  his  house  at  Newington  near  Edinburgh. 
Hill's  and  Adamson's  Calotypcs  were  'rediscovered'  at 
the  turn  of  the  century  by  J.  Craig  Annan. 

Lewis  Wickes  Hine    1 874-1 940 

Born  in  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin,  Hine  worked  as  a  boy  long 
hours  in  a  factory.  After  university  training  as  a  socio- 
logist, taught  from  1901-7  at  the  Ethical  Culture  School 
in  New  York.  In  1905  Hine  took  up  photography  in 
order  to  illustrate  his  sociological  research  work.  Docu- 
mented the  miserable  life  of  poor  European  immigrants 
1905-6;  made  sociological-photographic  study  of  miners' 
lives  at  Pittsburgh,  published  as  The  Pittsburgh  Survey 
c.  1908.  Appointed  staff  photographer  to  the  National 
Child  Labour  Committee,  Hine  exposed  shocking  condi- 
tions, which  resulted  in  the  passing  of  the  child  labour 
law.  During  World  War  I  Hine  photographed  with  the 
American  Red  Cross,  remained  with  the  Red  Cross  relief 
in  the  Balkans,  returning  to  New  York  in  1920.  Took 
hundreds  of  photographs  of  Men  at  Work  (1932), 
including  documentation  of  the  erection  of  the  Empire 
State  Building. 


238 


Theodor  Hofmeister    b.  1865 
Oskar  Hofmeister    b.  1869 

Both  born  and  active  in  Hamburg,  Theodor  as  a  whole- 
sale merchant  in  door-handles  and  Oskar  as  secretary  of 
the  county  court.  The  brothers  became  amateur  photo- 
graphers in  1895,  first  exhibiting  the  following  year 
(landscapes).  In  1897  they  turned  to  the  gum  print, 
about  which  Theodor  published  in  1898  two  booklets, 
Der  Gummidruck  und  seine  Verwendung  als  Ausdrucks- 
mitlel  der  Kunstphotographie  and  Das  Figurenbild  in  der 
Kunstphotographie.  The  brothers  devoted  themselves  to 
their  hobby,  picturing  local  landscapes,  the  life  of  fisher- 
folk,  etc.  Up  to  1914  they  were  prominent  exhibitors  in 
Germany,  also  giving  private  lessons  in  the  complicated 
controlled  processes. 

Emil  Otto  Hoppe    b.  1878 

Born  in  Munich.  Destined  by  his  father  for  a  banking 
career  and  worked  for  twelve  years  in  banks  in  Munich, 
Berlin  and  London.  Here  in  1907  Hoppe  at  last  fulfilled 
his  ambition  to  become  a  professional  portrait  photo- 
grapher, and  advocated  natural  and  truthful  portraiture 
at  a  period  when  retouching  and  studio  accessories  were 
the  hallmark  of  the  fashionable  photographer.  Hoppe  was 
at  the  same  time  a  prominent  exhibitor  and  an  influen- 
tial writer  on  the  art  of  photography  in  English  and 
foreign  journals.  After  eighteen  years  of  photographing 
celebrities  Hoppe  for  the  next  twenty  years  travelled  all 
over  the  world  for  the  'Orbis  Terrarum'  series  of  topo- 
graphical books.  Published  a  large  number  of  books 
illustrated  with  his  photographs  both  in  England  and 
Germany  where  he  was  equally  well  known  before 
World  War  II.  His  first  publication  was  a  portfolio  of 
fifteen  Studies  from  the  Russian  Ballet  (c.  1912).  In  the 
'Orbis  Terrarum'  series  appeared  his  volumes  on  Great 
Britain,  America  and  Australia.  Published  autobiography 
100,000  Exposures  (1945).  Lives  at  Crowborough, 
Sussex. 

Robert  Howlett  (?)-i858 

Professional  portrait  photographer  and  partner  of 
Joseph  Cundall  at  the  Photographic  Institution  in  Bond 
Street,  London,  1855.  Made  a  set  of  photographs  of 
Crimean  War  heroes  for  Queen  Victoria,  photographed 
the  launching  of  the  Great  Eastern  (1858),  and  in  1856 
went  with  W.  P.  Frith  to  Epsom  and  took  a  number  of 
photographs  from  the  top  of  a  cab,  which  Frith  used  for 
his  well-known  painting  'Derby  Day'.  Died  in  London. 

Alice  Hughes 

Daughter  of  a  fashionable  society  portrait  painter, 
Edward  Hughes,  learned  photography  in  order  to  make 
studies  for  her  father's  paintings  and  to  record  them. 
Started  c.  1886  a  photographic  portrait  studio  next  to 
her  father's  in  Gower  Street  in  London,  and  was  until 
1910  the  leading  photographer  of  English  and  Contin- 
ental royalty  and  fashionable  society  women.  Seldom 
photographed  men.  Her  fine  platinotype  prints  are  the 


epitome  of  an  elegant  age.  Sold  business  in  1910  and 
started  a  portrait  studio  in  Berlin  three  years  later.  After 
the  outbreak  of  war  Miss  Hughes  was  repatriated,  and 
bought  back  her  right  to  open  a  new  studio  in  Ebury 
Street,  London.  She  was  active  until  about  1925.  Pub- 
lished autobiography  My  Father  and  I  (1923). 

Kurt  Hutton  1893-1960 

Born  in  Strasbourg.  Hiibschmann's  law  studies  were 
interrupted  by  World  War  I.  Learned  photography  from 
a  professional  and  in  1923  opened  a  portrait  and  adver- 
tising studio  in  Berlin.  Six  years  later  took  up  photo- 
reportage,  working  for  various  German  illustrated  papers 
1930-4,  when  he  emigrated  to  England  and  took  the 
name  of  Hutton.  Staff  photographer  of  Weekly  Illustrated 
and  later  Picture  Post  from  its  foundation  in  1938  until 
1955.  Died  at  his  home  at  Aldeburgh,  Suffolk. 

Peter  Keetman    b.  1916 

Born  in  Wuppertal-Elberfeld,  Germany,  the  son  of  a 
bank  manager,  Keetman  studied  at  the  State  School  of 
Photography  in  Munich  1935-7,  and  was  UIltu  his  call- 
up  in  1940  in  turn  assistant  to  a  portrait  photographer  in 
Duisburg  and  an  industrial  photographer  in  Aachen. 
Served  in  the  army  in  France,  Poland,  Hungary,  and 
Russia,  where  he  lost  a  leg.  Returned  to  the  State 
School  of  Photography  for  another  year  1947-8,  then 
assistant  for  five  months  in  Adolf  Lazi's  studio  in  Stutt- 
gart. In  1949  Keetman  became  a  founder  member  of 
Fotoform  (now  Subjective  Photography)  and  the  following 
year  started  his  career  as  a  freelance  photographer. 
Fields  of  activity  are  principally  topography,  industry 
and  advertising.  Published  three  topographical  books: 
Munich  (1955),  The  Bavarian  Lake  District  (1957)  and 
Berchtesgaden,  Reichenhall,  Salzburg  (1959).  Keetman 
lives  at  Breitbrunn  on  the  Chiemsee  in  Upper  Bavaria. 

Alexander  Keighley  1861-1947 

Born  at  Keighley,  son  of  a  well-to-do  Yorkshire  woollen 
manufacturer.  Worked  in  the  family  business  for  forty- 
six  years.  Keighley  took  up  photography  c.  1883,  joined 
the  Linked  Ring  1892.  From  1899  until  his  death  used 
the  carbon  process  for  printing  his  large  idealized  roman- 
tic landscapes,  the  composition  being  frequently  'im- 
proved' by  hand-work.  Had  a  liking  for  sunlit  objects 
surrounded  by  contrasting  gloom.  Prominent  at  inter- 
national exhibitions  and  regarded,  after  the  death  of 
Horsley  Hinton  in  1908,  as  the  leading  British  pictorialist. 
Died  at  Keighley. 

Dr  Thomas  Keith  1827-95 

Edinburgh  gynaecologist  and  surgeon.  Prominent  ama- 
teur photographer  in  the  mid-'fiftics  using  the  waxed 
paper  process.  Dr  Keith  concentrated  almost  exclusively 
on  architecture  in  Edinburgh,  and  the  surrounding 
scenery.  He  ascribed  his  success  to  limiting  his  hobby 
to  a  few  weeks  in  the  middle  of  the  summer  before  or 
after  his  professional  work,  when  the  light  was  best. 


239 


Owing  to  pressure  of  work,  gave  up  photography 
altogether  in  1857. 

Heinrich  Ktihn    1 866- 1 944 

Born  in  Dresden,  studied  science  and  medicine.  Moved 
to  Innsbruck  1888  and  devoted  himself  to  photography 
in  which  he  had  become  interested  as  an  amateur  in 
1879.  Introduced  in  1897  tne  multiple  gum  print  for 
colour  prints.  Prominent  exhibitor  of  portraits  and 
landscapes,  and  with  Watzek  and  Henneberg  led  the 
aesthetic  movement  in  photography  in  Austria.  Member 
of  the  Linked  Ring.  Honorary  doctor  of  Innsbruck  Uni- 
versity 1937  for  work  in  developing  artistic  photographic 
printing  methods. 

Lacroix 

French  amateur  photographer  in  the  impressionist  style 
between  1895-1914.  Member  of  the  Photo-Club  dc 
Paris. 

Dorothea  Lange    b.  1895 

Born  in  Hoboken,  New  Jersey.  Studied  photography 
under  Clarence  H.  White  at  Columbia  University  and 
opened  portrait  studio  in  San  Francisco  1915.  In  1932 
became  a  member  of  the  F.64  Group.  During  the  depths 
of  the  economic  depression  in  the  early  'thirties, 
Dorothea  Lange  felt  impelled  to  photograph  the  work- 
less  in  the  streets.  An  exhibition  of  these  photographs 
was  seen  by  a  professor  of  economics,  Paul  Taylor  (later 
her  second  husband)  and  the  two  reported  to  the  State 
of  California  in  1935  on  the  plight  of  migrant  labour. 
The  Federal  Government  in  setting  up  an  organization 
later  called  the  Farm  Security  Administration  included  a 
photographic  division  for  which  Dorothea  Lange, 
Walker  Evans  and  other  photographers  worked  in  the 
mid-'thirties.  John  Steinbeck  credits  Lange's  photo- 
graphs for  inspiring  his  classic  novel  The  Grapes  of 
Wrath.  She  continues  her  work  on  social-documentation, 
several  examples  of  which  were  published  in  Life.  Her 
books  include  An  American  Exodus  (1939)  and  The 
New  California  (1957). 

Clarence  J.  Laughlin    b.  1905 

Born  in  New  Orleans,  took  up  photography  at  the  age  of 
thirty,  and  was  from  1936-41  staff  photographer  at  the 
U.S.  Engineer's  Off.ce  in  New  Orleans,  photographing 
old  buildings,  statues,  and  wrought-iron  work  in  that  city. 
A  selection  of  his  pictures  was  published  in  New  Crleans 
and  Its  Lhing  Past  (1941).  1941-2  Laughlin  worked  for 
Vogue  in  New  York  City  and  the  National  Archives  in 
Washington.  He  did  four  years'  war  service  as  photo- 
grapher at  the  Office  of  Strategic  Services,  specializing 
in  colour  photography,.  Following  his  discharge  in  1946 
Laughlin  returned  to  New  Orleans  to  take  more  photo- 
graphs of  the  decaying  architectural  beauty  of  his  home 
town  and  the  abandoned  Louisiana  plantations  which 
have  remained  his  favourite  subjects.  His  second  book 
Ghosts  Along  the  Mississippi  was  published  in  1948. 


Laughlin  lives  in  New  Orleans  as  a  free-lance  architec- 
tural photographer. 

Gustave  Le  Gray  1820-62 

Born  at  Villiers  le  Bel  near  Paris,  Le  Gray  studied  art 
under  Paul  Delaroche  and  exhibited  paintings  at  the 
Salons  of  1848  and  1853.  About  1848  he  took  up  the 
Calotype  process  and  became  a  professional  portrait 
photographer  in  Paris.  Le  Gray  is  the  author  of  several 
photographic  manuals,  and  inventor  of  the  waxed  paper 
process  (1851)  with  which  he  took  a  large  series  of 
photographs  of  historic  buildings  in  Tourainc  and 
Aquitainc  for  the  Comite  des  Monuments  Historiques. 
A  founder  member  of  the  Societe  Francaisc  dc  Photo- 
graphic in  November  1854,  and  a  frequent  exhibitor, 
Le  Gray  achieved  international  fame  with  his  instantan- 
eous seascapes  with  clouds  (1856).  Unwilling  to  follow 
the  fashion  for  cheap  cartes-de-visite,  Le  Gray  retired 
from  photography  at  the  end  of  i860  or  beginning  of 
1 861  and  settled  as  a  Professor  of  drawing  in  Cairo, 
where  he  died  following  a  riding  accident. 

John  Leighton  1823-1912 

Designer  and  painter  of  architecture  in  London.  Ex- 
hibited and  published  under  the  pseudonym  'Luke 
Limner'.  Leighton  was  an  amateur  photographer  from 
1853  onward  with  the  Calotype  and  later  collodion  pro- 
cess, contributing  photographs  to  The  Sunbeam  and 
other  collective  publications  under  the  pseudonym 
'Phoebus'.  Published  Suggestions  in  Design,  including 
original  compositions  in  all  styles,  for  the  use  of  artists  and 
art-workmen,  etc.  (1853),  and  other  books. 

Helrnar  Lerski  1871-1956 

Born  in  Strasbourg,  Lerski  was  brought  up  in  Zurich 
where  his  parents  settled  and  became  Swiss.  He  went 
to  the  U.S.  in  1893  and  acted  at  the  German  Theatre  in 
New  York  City,  Chicago  and  Milwaukee.  In  191 1, 
learned  photography  from  his  first  wife,  a  professional 
portrait  photographer  in  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and  became 
one  himself.  In  1915  Lerski  went  to  Germany  and  had  an 
exhibition  of  his  portraits  in  Berlin,  which  led  to  his 
employment  as  cameraman  by  the  leading  film  com- 
panies. After  the  introduction  of  the  sound  film,  Lerski 
returned  to  portrait  photography,  studying  the  creative 
effects  of  light  in  characterization,  taking  close-ups  of 
simple  people.  Published  Kdpfe  des  Alltags  (1931).  The 
same  year  Lerski  went  to  Palestine  where  until  1948  he 
made  physicgncmical  studies  of  Jewish  peasants  and 
Arab  labourers  under  varied  lighting  conditions,  pur- 
suing his  idea  of 'metamorphosis  through  light'.  In  1948 
Lerski  returned  to  his  home  town,  Ziirich,  where  he  died 
eight  years  later.  A  retrospective  review  of  his  portrait 
work  both  in  Germany  and  Palestine  is  contained  in  the 
recent  book  Der  Mensch,  Mein  Bruder,  Dresden  1958. 

Alois  Locherer  1815-62 

Pharmaceutist  and  professional  photographer  in  Munich 


240 


from  1847  onward.  Noted  for  photo-reportage  of  the 
transport  of  the  gigantic  statue  'Bavaria'  from  the 
foundry  to  its  position  in  front  of  the  Hall  of  Fame  in 
Munich  (1850)  and  for  Calotype  portraits  of  celebrities 
published  in  Photographisches  Album  der  Zeitgenossen 
(1854).  Locherer  also  made  genre  and  nude  studies  for 
artists,  and  published  reproductions  of  engravings  in  the 
Bavarian  royal  collection  (1855).  Published  a  photo- 
graphic manual  (1854). 

Nahum  Elian  Luboshez  1 869-1925 
Born  in  Russia,  brought  as  a  child  to  America  by  his 
parents.  Learned  photographic  retouching.  Returned  to 
Europe  c.  1892  to  study  art,  earning  his  living  as  a  por- 
trait photographer  and  retoucher  in  Hamburg  and  other 
German  cities.  Came  to  England  in  1894  and  joined 
Kodak  Ltd.  as  a  roving  Continental  representative, 
demonstrator  and  lecturer  in  many  European  countries; 
started  Kodak  branch  in  St  Petersburg  c.  1910.  During 
World  War  I  and  after,  Luboshez  worked  at  the  Kodak 
Research  Laboratory,  Harrow,  and  introduced  many 
improvements  in  radiological  apparatus  and  film  emul- 
sions. Continued  as  an  amateur  taking  portraits  of  well- 
known  people  and  was  a  prominent  exhibitor.  Died  at 
Harrow. 


Robert  MacPherson  (?)-i872 

Originally  a  surgeon  in  Edinburgh,  MacPherson  settled 
in  Rome  in  the  early  1840s  and  became  a  painter  and  art 
dealer.  He  discovered  one  of  the  Michelangelo  paintings 
now  at  the  National  Gallery,  London.  Learning  photo- 
graphy from  a  visiting  friend  in  1851,  MacPherson  took 
it  up  professionally  and  within  a  few  years  was  the  lead- 
ing photographer  of  architecture,  views,  and  Roman 
antiquities.  His  splendid  large  pictures  of  the  principal 
classical  sites  and  over  300  photographs  of  sculpture  in 
the  Vatican  are  unequalled  by  later  photographers. 
They  were  mainly  bought  by  English  tourists.  An  ex- 
hibition of  MacPherson's  work  from  the  Gernsheim 
Collection  at  the  British  Council  in  Rome  in  1954  made 
a  deep  impression,  for  few  of  his  photographs  are  pre- 
served in  Roman  collections.  MacPherson  is  also  known 
for  a  process  of  photolithography  introduced  in  1855 
and  for  a  Guidebook  to  the  Sculpture  in  the  Vatican  (1863). 

Felix  H.  Man  (pseudonym  for  Hans  Baumann)  b.  1893 
Born  in  Freiburg,  the  son  of  a  banker,  Man's  art  studies 
were  interrupted  by  war  service,  after  which  he  began  his 
career  as  an  illustrator  of  sports  events  for  the  B.Z.  am 
Mittag,  Berlin.  Photographed  at  first  to  assist  him  in  his 
work,  and  in  October  1928  became  a  professional, 
pioneering  with  an  Ermanox  camera,  the  new  field  of 
photo-reportage,  for  the  Munchner  Illustrierte  and  the 
Berliner  Illustrierte.  Made  reportages  of  social  and  general 
interest  events  by  available  light,  and  had  photo-inter- 
views with  practically  everybody  of  importance  in 
Europe.  Pioneered  a  new  kind  of  picture  story  with  A 

Q 


Day  with  Mussolini  (1931).  After  the  Nazis  seized  power 
Man  settled  in  London  (1934),  worked  for  Illustrated, 
and  was  chief  photographer  to  Picture  Post  from  its 
foundation  in  1938  until  1945.  Free-lanced  for  this  paper 
1947-51.  Took  for  Life  the  first  reportage  in  colour  by 
night — the  Festival  of  Britain  1951.  Retired  in  1953  to 
devote  himself  to  the  study  of  modern  art  and  to  collect- 
ing lithographs.  Published  150  Years  of  Artists'  Litho- 
graphs (1953)  and  Eight  European  Artists  (1954),  the 
latter  illustrated  with  his  colour  and  black  and  white 
photographs.  Lives  at  Lugano. 

Paul  Martin  1864-1942 

Martin  began  photography  as  an  amateur  in  1884  during 
his  apprenticeship  to  a  firm  of  wood-engravers  working 
for  newspapers.  In  the  early  'nineties  he  gave  up  pictorial 
photography  for  exhibitions,  and  with  a  concealed  hand- 
camera  began  to  take  candid  snapshots  in  London  streets 
and  at  the  seaside.  Caused  still  greater  sensation  with  his 
photographs  of  London  by  twilight  in  1896.  Four  years 
later  gave  up  wood-engraving  and  worked  as  free-lance 
press  photographer  until  about  1908;  thereafter  process- 
engraver  in  London.  Autobiography  Victorian  Snapshots 
(1939)- 

Maull  &  Polyblank 

Well-known  firm  of  portrait  photographers  in  the  City 
and  in  Piccadilly.  From  the  mid-'fiftics  onward  they 
made  an  extensive  scries  of  fine  portraits  of  the  dis- 
tinguished members  of  learned  societies  and  other 
celebrities. 

Angus  McRean    b.  1905 

Born  in  South  Wales,  son  of  a  surveyor.  After  several 
unhappy  years  as  a  bank  clerk  in  Wales  and  shop 
assistant  in  London,  McBean,  who  was  already  an 
amateur  photographer,  worked  in  1934-5  m  tne  London 
studio  of  a  well-known  society  photographer,  Hugh 
Cecil.  In  1935  he  opened  his  own  studio,  venturing  also 
into  stage  photography,  and  within  a  few  years  became 
London's  leading  theatrical  photographer.  Under  the 
influence  of  surrealism  McBean  combined  the  fantastic 
with  the  realistic  in  a  new  type  of  portrait  of  actors  and 
actresses  in  elaborate  decors  designed  by  him.  Lives  at 
his  studio  near  Covent  Garden,  London. 

Melandri 

Professional  portrait  photographer  in  Paris  in  the  1860s 
and  '70s. 

Leonard  Misonne  (?)-i943 

Leading  Belgian  amateur  photographer  specializing  in 
landscape,  and  prominent  exhibitor  between  1898- 
1939,  working  with  the  bromoil  printing  process.  Lived 
and  died  at  Gilly. 

Peter  Moeschlin    b.  1924 

Born  and  active  in  Basle,  where  he  trained  as  a  photo- 

241 


grapher  1940-3.  After  working  in  different  studios  in 
Switzerland  Moeschlin  spent  eight  months  in  England 
in  1947  as  free-lance  reportage  photographer.  The  fol- 
lowing year  spent  several  months  in  French  North 
Africa.  In  1950  started  studio  in  Basle  for  commercial 
photography,  continuing  reportage.  Made  a  document- 
ary film  1956-8,  and  published  a  picture  book  on 
Pablo  Casals  1956. 

Laszlo  Moholy-Nagy  1 895-1947 
Born  in  Bacsborsod,  Hungary,  Moholy-Nagy  was 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  by  the  Russians  in  World 
War  I;  came  in  contact  with  Russian  avant-garde  art 
and  took  up  painting  in  Odessa.  Painted  portraits  and 
landscapes;  1921-3  abstract  painter  in  Berlin.  First 
photograms  1922.  Founder  and  director  of  the  depart- 
ment of  photography  at  the  Bauhaus  1923-8.  Published 
two  Bauhaus  books,  Malerei,  Photographic,  Film  (1925) 
and  Von  Malerei  zu  Architeklur  (1929).  Made  seven  films 
between  1926-35.  In  1934  Molholy-Nagy  emigrated 
to  Amsterdam,  the  following  year  to  London.  During 
a  short  stay  in  England  made  photo-reportages  of  Eton 
College  and  Oxford.  From  1937  until  his  death  in 
Chicago  Moholy-Nagy  was  director  of  the  School  of 
Design  there,  founded  by  him,  teaching  photography 
among  other  subjects. 

James  Mudd 

Professional  portrait  photographer  in  Manchester  in  the 
late  1850s  and  '60s.  Made  a  reputation  with  brilliant 
landscape  photographs  which  he  took  for  exhibition 
purposes. 

Nadar  (pseudonym  for  Gaspard  Felix  Tournachon) 
1820-1910 

Born  in  Paris,  son  of  a  publisher  and  bookseller  at  Lyon. 
After  studying  medicine  for  a  time,  Tournachon  went  to 
Paris  in  1842  and  made  a  precarious  living  with  articles 
and  caricatures  in  comic  magazines  such  as  Le  Charivari; 
founded  La  Revue  Comique  1849.  Played  an  active  part  in 
the  revolution  of  1848.  Became  a  professional  photo- 
grapher 1853,  for  a  while  in  partnership  with  his  brother 
Adricn  at  113  Rue  St  Lazare,  continuing  at  the  same 
time  his  work  on  Le  Pantheon  Nadar  (1854).  This  con- 
sisted of  lithographed  caricatures  of  famous  Frenchmen, 
many  of  whom  he  also  photographed.  In  i860  Nadar 
opened  an  elegant  studio  at  35  Boulevard  des  Capucines. 
Photographed  the  sewers  and  catacombs  by  electric  light 
(i860).  Equally  famous  as  an  aeronaut,  Nadar  took  the 
first  balloon  photograph  (1858),  and  constructed  the 
world's  largest  balloon  'Le  Geant'  (1863).  During  the 
Siege  of  Paris  he  commanded  an  observation  balloon 
corps,  and  provided  a  balloon  postal  service  to  the  seat 
of  the  Delegate  Government  at  Tours  (later  Bordeaux). 
After  the  Commune  he  had  a  studio  in  the  Rue  d'Anjou. 
In  1886  Nadar  retired  from  active  photography,  but 
pioneered  a  new  field — the  photo-interview.  In  old  age 
he  continued  writing  books  on  various  subjects  including 


a  biography  of  Baudelaire  and  Quand  j'etais  Photographe 
(1899).  Died  in  Paris. 

Charles  Negre  1820-79 

Born  at  Grasse.  Studied  art  in  the  studios  of  Delaroche 
and  Ingres.  Began  to  Calotype  c.  1850,  opened  a  portrait 
studio  in  Paris,  but  is  chiefly  known  for  his  excellent 
architectural  photographs.  One  of  the  earliest  French 
photographers  to  compose  genre  pictures,  Negre  ex- 
hibited at  the  Salon  of  1855  a  painting  copied  from  his 
photograph  of  an  organ-grinder.  Founder  member  of 
the  Societe  Francaise  de  Photographie  and  a  constant 
exhibitor  at  International  photographic  exhibitions. 
Negre  invented  before  1855  an  excellent  photo-engrav- 
ing process  on  steel  plates  but  kept  the  details  secret. 
Returned  to  live  at  Grasse  and  became  professor  of 
drawing  at  the  Lycee  Imperiale  in  Nice  in  1864.  He 
died  at  Grasse. 

Joseph  Nicephore  Niepce  1 765-1 R33 
Born  at  Chalon-sur-Saone,  the  son  of  a  King's  Coun- 
cillor. Landowner  and  amateur  scientist;  inventor  of 
photography  and  of  photo-etching,  both  of  which  he 
called  Heliography.  Experimented  with  photography 
from  1 81 6  onward  on  paper  sensitized  with  chloride  of 
silver.  Unable  to  fix  his  pictures  Niepce  turned  to  other 
substances,  and  in  July  1822  succeeded  in  making  a  con- 
tact copy  of  an  engraving  of  Pope  Pius  VII  on  glass 
coated  with  bitumen  of  Judea.  Later  made  similar  hclio- 
graphic  copies  on  zinc  and  pewter  plates.  The  best  of 
these,  a  heliograph  of  an  engraving  of  Cardinal  d'Amboisc 
made  in  1826,  was  etched  by  the  Parisian  engraver  A.  F. 
Lemaitre  and  four  prints  pulled  in  February  1827.  Dur- 
ing 1826  Niepce  succeeded  in  taking  the  first  permanent 
photograph  from  nature  in  the  camera.  He  brought  this 
and  other  heliographs  (which  were,  however,  only  copies 
of  engravings)  to  London  in  September  1827  and  en- 
deavoured to  interest  King  George  IV  and  the  Royal 
Society  in  his  invention.  Failing  in  this,  he  entered  into 
partnership  with  L.  J.  M.  Daguerrc  in  December  1829. 
Niepce  was  the  first  to  use — possibly  to  invent — the 
bellows  camera  and  iris  diaphragm.  He  died  at  his  estate, 
Gras,  at  St  Loup  de  Varennes  near  Chalon  four  years 
before  his  partner  perfected  the  invention  that  bears  his 
name — daguerreotype. 

Frau  E.  Nothmann 

German  amateur  photographer  in  the  impressionist 
style,  living  in  Berlin  and  active  at  the  turn  of  the 
century. 

William  Notman    1 826-9 1 

Born  in  Paisley,  learned  to  daguerreotype  in  Glasgow. 
Established  himself  in  1856  as  a  portrait  and  landscape 
photographer  in  Montreal  and  became  Canada's  first 
internationally  known  photographer.  Notman  was  a 
virtuoso  in  trompe-Voeil  effects  and  is  today  mainly  re- 
membered for  his  elaborate  and  realistic  folk-like  com- 


242 


positions  depicting  trappers,  buffalo-hunters,  camp-life, 
skating  and  other  winter  sports.  Though  these  scenes 
were  built  up  in  the  studio,  their  great  documentary 
value  in  depicting  bygone  customs  is  undeniable. 
Notman  died  in  Montreal. 

Georg  Oddner    b.  1923 

Born  in  Stockholm.  Originally  a  jazz  musician,  Oddner 
was  trained  after  the  war  in  typography  and  layout  by 
Svenska  Telegrambyra,  in  Malmo,  the  largest  adver- 
tising agency  in  Scandinavia.  Study  tour  of  U.S.  adver- 
tising methods  1949.  Persuaded  by  the  agency  to  take 
up  photography,  Oddner  in  1950  opened  in  Malmo  a 
photographic  studio  in  close  collaboration  with  them. 
In  addition  to  industrial  and  commercial  photography 
Oddner  does  fashion  and  reportage  work  for  leading 
Swedish  magazines.  Undertook  several  journeys  for  the 
Scandinavian  airline  SAS:  California  1954,  South 
America  1955,  the  Soviet  Union,  Middle  and  Far  East 
1956.  Exhibition  at  the  Malmo  art  museum  1956 — the 
first  one-man  photographic  show  held  in  any  Swedish 
art  museum.  Member  of  the  Swedish  group  of  ten  free- 
lance photographers  Tio'. 

Timothy  H.  O' Sullivan  c.  1840-82 
Born  in  New  York  City.  Learned  photography  at  Brady's 
New  York  portrait  studio,  later  transferred  to  Brady's 
Washington  studio  under  management  of  Alexander 
Gardner.  During  the  Civil  War  O'Sullivan  worked  for 
Gardner  with  the  Federal  Army  on  map  work,  taking 
also  photographs  on  the  battle  fronts,  forty-five  of  which 
were  published  in  Gardner's  Photographic  Sketchbook  of 
the  War  (1866).  After  the  war  O'Sullivan  had  an  adven- 
turous career  photographing  for  Government  exploratory 
expeditions  in  Nevada  and  the  High  Rockies,  the 
Colorado  River,  Arizona,  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  to  make 
a  survey  for  a  ship  canal  (now  the  Panama  Canal),  etc. 
A  year  before  his  death  at  Statcn  Island,  O'Sullivan  was 
appointed  chief  photographer  to  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, Washington. 

Richard  Polak    b.  1 870 

American  amateur  photographer  since  1900.  Limited  to 
one  subject:  'Figure  studies  in  old  Dutch  costumes'. 
Lived  in  Lausanne,  Switzerland. 

Carlo  Ponti 

Leading  Venetian  architectural  photographer  specializ- 
ing in  views  of  Venice,  Padua  and  Verona.  Published  in 
the  1 860s  a  number  of  albums  under  the  title  'Ricordo 
di  Venezia',  each  containing  twenty  large  views,  some 
by  other  Venetian  photographers  such  as  Perini.  Ponti 
also  made  a  valuable  documentation  of  Venetian  street 
types  in  the  early  1860s.  After  Venice  was  given  up 
by  Austria  following  her  defeat  in  the  Seven  Weeks'  War 
in  1866,  Ponti,  now  an  Italian  subject,  was  appointed 
optician  to  the  King  of  Italy. 


William  Lake  Price    c.  1810-96 

Watercolour  painter  in  London,  exhibited  chiefly  archi- 
tectural subjects  at  the  Royal  Academy  and  the  Water 
Colour  Society  1828-52.  Published  Interiors  and  Exteriors 
in  Venice  (1843) — twenty-five  coloured  lithographs 
copied  by  Joseph  Nash  from  Price's  original  drawings. 
Changed  to  photography  in  1854  and  was  the  first  in 
Britain  to  compose  historical  and  literary  subjects  and 
to  make  combination  pictures  from  several  negatives. 
Price's  portraits  of  the  royal  family  were  published  as 
engravings  (1856).  Photographed  views  in  Rome  in  1857 
for  the  London  Art  Union.  Received  commissions  from 
Price  Albert  and  from  Colnaghi  and  other  art  publishers 
to  reproduce  Old  Master  paintings  and  frescoes  in  Rome, 
for  which  he  commanded  extremely  high  fees.  Issued  in 
1858  twelve  'Portraits  of  Eminent  British  Artists'.  Gave 
up  photographic  career  in  May  1862  for  'health  reasons' 
but  dislike  of  the  commercialization  of  photography  may 
well  have  driven  him  to  this  step,  as  it  did  Fcnton,  Le 
Gray  and  others.  Price's  Manual  of  Photographic  Mani- 
pulation (1858)  was  the  first  handbook  stressing  the 
aesthetic  aspect  of  photography. 

Man  Ray    b.  1890 

Born  in  Philadelphia,  moved  at  the  age  of  seven  to  New 
York.  In  1907  began  studying  architecture  and  con- 
structional engineering  but  after  some  months  took  a 
job  as  draughtsman  and  typographer.  Started  at  the  same 
time  to  study  painting,  and  first  exhibited  in  1912.  Three 
years  later  first  one-man  show  in  New  York.  Ray  was 
one  of  the  first  American  abstract  painters  191 5-16 
and  became  a  co-founder  with  Duchamp  and  Picabia 
of  the  New  York  Dada  group  1917.  Took  up  photo- 
graphy in  1920  in  order  to  reproduce  his  own  paintings. 
Settled  in  Paris  1 92 1  and  studied  at  the  Academic  des 
Beaux-Arts;  worked  in  close  association  with  the  Dadaists 
and  Surrealists.  In  1922  made  abstract  photographs 
called  'Rayographs'  and  published  twelve  of  them  under 
the  title  Champs  Delicieux  with  a  preface  by  Tristan 
Tzara.  For  many  years  Ray  made  a  living  by  reproducing 
paintings  for  artists,  taking  portraits,  and  advertising 
photographs.  Among  his  photographic  pupils  were  Bill 
Brandt,  Lee  Miller  and  Berenice  Abbott.  In  1926  Ray 
made  his  first  surrealist  film  Etnak  Bakia.  A  collection 
of  his  photographs  was  published  in  book  form  in  1934 
entitled  Man  Ray.  After  the  fall  of  France  (1940)  Man 
Ray  moved  to  Hollywood,  returning  to  Paris  in  1951 
where  he  now  lives,  painting  and  photographing. 

Oscar  Gustave  Rejlander  1813-75 
Son  of  a  Swedish  officer,  Rejlander  was  a  portrait 
painter  in  London  from  c.  1840-51.  The  following  year 
he  went  to  Rome  to  study  art,  supporting  himself  by 
copying  Old  Masters.  Married  an  Englishwoman  and 
settled  in  Lincoln  later  that  year.  In  1853  learned 
photography  as  an  aid  in  painting.  Two  years  later 
Rejlander  changed  his  career  to  photography,  opening  a 
portrait  studio  in  Wolverhampton  and  taking  in  printing 


Q* 


243 


from  amateurs  and  professionals.  In  i860  he  moved  to 
London  and  continued  there  as  a  professional  photo- 
grapher until  his  death.  After  Robinson,  Rejlander  was 
the  most  prominent  'fine  art'  photographer.  He  made 
studies  for  artists  and  anecdotal  pictures  and  was  the 
first  in  Britain  to  photograph  nudes  (1857).  Rejlander's 
allegorical  composition  'The  Two  Ways  of  Life'  shown 
at  the  Manchester  Art  Treasures  Exhibition  1857  was 
bought  by  Queen  Victoria.  He  was  commissioned  by 
Darwin  to  make  illustrations  for  The  Expression  of  the 
Emotions  in  Man  and  Animals  (1872).  Between  1848  and 
1873  Rejlander  exhibited  four  paintings  at  the  Royal 
Academy.  He  died  in  poverty  in  London. 

Albert  Rengcr-Patzsch    b.  1897 

Born  in  Wiirzburg,  the  son  of  a  musician  who  was  also 
a  keen  amateur  photographer.  Renger-Patzsch  after  war 
service  studied  chemistry  and  in  1922  was  appointed 
head  of  the  photographic  department  of  the  Folkwang 
art  publishing  house  in  Hagen.  At  the  same  time  he  be- 
gan taking  close-ups  of  flowers  and  man-made  objects, 
and  after  various  jobs  during  the  inflation,  opened  in 
1925  a  photographic  studio  in  Bad  Harzburg,  and  ex- 
hibited in  Hanover  and  Liibcck.  Pioneer  of  'Ncuc  Sach- 
lichkcit'  as  exemplified  in  his  classic  book  Die  Weltist 
Schon  (1928),  which  was  preceded  by  Die  Halligen, 
Portrdt  einer  Landschaft  the  previous  year.  Since  then, 
Rcngcr-Patzsch's  activity  was  mainly  directed  to  por- 
traying German  landscapes  and  towns  in  several  picture 
books.  Moved  in  1929  to  Essen  and  was  for  a  time 
teacher  of  photography  at  the  Folkwang- Schule  there, 
and  photographer  to  the  Folkwang  Museum.  After  being 
bombed  out  in  Essen  in  1944,  Renger-Patzsch  moved 
to  Wam:l  on  the  Mohnesec.  He  still  takes  landscapes 
and  architecture  for  book  publications  and  does  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  industrial  photography.  Awarded  the 
German  Kulturprcis  der  Photographic  i960. 

Jacob  A.  Riis  1849-1914 

Born  at  Ribc,  Denmark,  Riis,  a  carpenter,  emigrated  to 
America  in  1870.  Seven  years  later  he  became  a  police- 
court  reporter  for  the  New  York  Tribune.  In  1887  Riis 
began  his  series  of  flashlight  photographs  of  the  slums 
of  New  York,  documenting  the  social  conditions  re- 
sponsible for  crime.  Riis  is  America's  first  photo- 
reporter.  His  reportages  influenced  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
then  Governor  of  New  York  State,  to  undertake  a  num- 
ber of  social  reforms,  including  the  wiping  out  of  the 
notorious  tenements  at  Mulberry  Bend,  where  today  the 
Jacob  A.  Riis  Neighbourhood  Settlement  commemorates 
the  photographer's  great  work.  Riis  wrote  and  illustrated, 
among  other  books,  How  the  Other  Half  Lives  (1890)  and 
Children  of  the  Poor  (1892).  He  died  at  his  country  house 
at  Barre,  Mass. 

James  Robertson 

Designer  of  medals  which  he  exhibited  at  the  Royal 


Academy,  London,  in  the  1830s.  About  1850  Robertson 
was  appointed  chief  engraver  to  the  Imperial  Mint  at 
Constantinople.  An  enthusiastic  landscape  photographer 
noted  particularly  for  long  panoramas  made  up  from 
several  prints,  Robertson  published  in  the  'fifties  views 
of  Constantinople,  Malta  and  Athens.  Arriving  in  the 
Crimea  immediately  after  the  fall  of  Sebastopol  in  Sep- 
tember 1855  he  took  some  fine  photographs  of  the  Rus- 
sian batteries,  the  English  and  French  camps  and  en- 
trenchments, and  Sebastopol  harbour.  These  photo- 
graphs form  a  sequel  to  Fenton's  famous  war  reportage. 
In  association  with  A.  Bcato,  Robertson  photographed  in 
Palestine  and  Syria  in  1857  and  then  went  to  India  and 
made  a  valuable  documentation  of  the  scenes  of  the  re- 
cent mutiny.  Made  a  7-ft.  long  panorama  of  Lucknow 
1858.  Last  exhibited  in  i860. 

Henry  Peach  Robinson  183C-1901 
Born  in  Ludlow,  Robinson  was  a  bookshop  assistant  in 
Leamington.  A  keen  amateur  painter,  he  had  a  picture 
hung  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1852.  Two  years  later  he 
became  interested  in  photography  and  in  January  1857 
opened  a  portrait  studio  in  Leamington;  from  1868  on- 
ward in  Tunbridgc  Wells  in  partnership  with  N.  K. 
Cherrill.  His  composition  photograph  'Fading  Away' 
(1858)  made  Robinson  famous  overnight.  He  continued 
to  make  elaborate  compositions  for  every  annual  ex- 
hibition at  the  Photographic  Society  of  London. 
Throughout  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
Robinson  was  the  most  influential  pictorial  photo- 
grapher in  the  world.  Published  several  books  including 
Pictorial  Effect  in  Photography  (1869)  and  Picture  Making 
by  Photography  (1884).  On  retiring  from  business  in  1888 
he  devoted  more  time  to  writing  and  to  the  organization 
of  exhibitions  at  the  Photographic  Society  (of  which  he 
had  become  Vice-President  in  1887),  and  later  at  the 
London  Salon.  Founder  member  of  the  Linked  Ring 
1892.  Died  at  Tunbridge  Wells. 

Arthur  Rothstein    b.  1915 

American  reportage  photographer  since  1934,  Rothstein 
made  in  the  two  following  years  a  scries  of  impressive 
documentary  photographs  of  impoverished  land-workers 
in  the  Southern  States  for  the  Farm  Security  Adminis- 
tration. Later  he  photographed  for  the  American  Army, 
for  the  United  Nations,  and  for  the  magazine  Look,  of 
which  he  is  now  technical  director  of  photography. 

Royal  Engineers  Military  School,  Chatham 
Officers  and  sergeants  of  the  Royal  Engineers  were 
taught  photography  at  the  Military  School  at  Chatham 
from  1856  onward.  Two  years  later  a  similar  course  for 
officers  of  the  Royal  Artillery  was  arranged  at  Woolwich. 

Harry  C.  Rubincam 

American  amateur  photographer  in  Denver,  Colorado, 
before  World  War  I.  Member  of  the  Photo-Secession. 


244 


Dr  Erich  Salomon    1 886-1 944 

Born  in  Berlin.  Doctor  of  law  at  Munich  University. 
During  the  post-war  inflation  Dr  Salomon  found  em- 
ployment in  the  publicity  department  of  the  Ullstein 
publishing  firm  in  Berlin.  Taking  up  photography  as  an 
amateur  in  1927  he  became  in  February  1928  a  free-lance 
photo-reporter  after  the  sensational  success  of  his  photo- 
graph of  a  murder  trial.  Using  the  Ermanox  camera, 
Salomon  pioneered  modern  photo-journalism,  selling  his 
pictures  to  the  Berliner  Illustrierte  and  other  papers.  He 
photographed  social  events,  but  is  chiefly  famous  for  his 
candid  photographs  of  politicians,  especially  at  inter- 
national conferences,  taken  in  available  light  conditions. 
Aristide  Briand  called  him  'lc  roi  des  indiscrets'.  Pub- 
lished Reriihmle  Zeilgcnossen  in  unbewachten  Augen- 
blicken  (1931).  Being  Jewish,  Dr  Salomon  and  his  family 
emigrated  to  Holland  in  1934.  Ten  years  later  he  was 
murdered  with  his  wife  and  second  son  in  the  Auschwitz 
extermination  camp. 

Lyddell  Sawyer  i856-(?) 

Son  of  a  portrait  painter  and  photographer  at  Newcastle, 
from  1 871  onward  worked  in  his  father's  studio.  Sawyer 
made  himself  independent  in  1885,  and  opened  a  second 
studio  in  Sunderland  1893.  Leaving  these  to  the  manage- 
ment of  his  brothers,  Sawyer  moved  to  London  and 
opened  a  studio  in  Regent  Street  in  1895.  In  his  spare 
time  he  took  landscape  photographs  in  the  naturalistic 
style.  Founder  member  of  the  Linked  Ring  1892. 

Christian  Schad    b.  1894 

Born  in  Micsbach,  Bavaria.  Studied  art  at  the  Munich 
Academy  1913.  Until  1917  Schad  was  chiefly  known  for 
woodcut  illustrations  in  leading  German  and  Swiss  liter- 
ary magazines.  From  1915-20  he  lived  in  Zurich  and 
Geneva,  belonging  to  the  circle  of  artists  and  writers  who 
formed  the  Dada  group  in  Zurich.  Painted  abstract  pic- 
tures and  exhibited  in  collective  shows  in  Switzerland. 
In  1918  made  abstract  photographs  called  by  Tzara 
'Schadographs'.  For  the  next  seven  years  Schad  lived 
in  Italy,  changed  to  'Ncuc  Sachlichkcit'  style,  painted 
portrait  of  Pope  Pius  XI  in  1921.  After  a  year  in  Vienna 
he  moved  to  Berlin  in  1928.  Took  part  in  numerous 
collective  exhibitions.  Since  1942  Schad  lives  and  paints 
in  Aschaffcnburg.  Monograph  by  Max  Osborn:  The 
Painter  Christian  Schad,  Berlin  1 927. 

Camille  Silvy 

French  aristocrat  and  diplomat.  Prominent  amateur  land- 
scape photographer  from  c.  1856-9.  The  sudden  fashion 
for  carte-de-visite  portraiture  decided  Silvy  to  give  up  his 
diplomatic  career  and  become  a  portrait  photographer. 
He  opened  an  elegant  studio  in  Porchester  Terrace, 
London,  in  autumn  1859.  The  most  fashionable  photo- 
grapher of  society  and  royalty,  Silvy  deserves  the  desig- 
nation of 'The  Winterhalter  of  Photography'.  Published 
a  series  of  cartes  entitled  'The  Beauties  of  England'.  By 
1869  the  fashion  for  carte  portraits  was  on  the  wane  and 


Silvy  sold  his  business,  retiring  to  his  ancestral  chateau. 
After  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  in  which  he  was 
wounded,  Silvy  opened  another  portrait  studio  in  a 
suburb  of  Paris. 

John  Shaw  Smith    181 1— 1873 

Landowner  in  County  Cork,  and  amateur  photographer. 
Travelled  through  Europe  and  the  Near  and  Middle 
East  1850-52  and  made  about  300  Calotype  and  waxed 
paper  photographs.  One  of  the  first  Europeans  to  ven- 
ture to  Petra  and  certainly  the  first  to  photograph  the 
mysterious  cave-city.  Died  in  Dublin. 

Edward  Steichen    b.  1879 

Born  in  Luxembourg.  Steichcn's  parents  came  to  the 
United  States  in  1881,  and  he  was  educated  in  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.  Studied  art  and  worked  for  a  lithographic 
firm;  took  first  photographs  in  1896.  In  Europe  1901-02, 
showed  paintings  at  the  Paris  Salon  1901  and  a  one-man 
show  of  paintings  and  photographs,  Paris  1902.  Founder 
member  of  the  Photo-Secession  1902,  and  prominent 
exhibitor  of  gum  prints.  Founded  with  Stieglitz  the 
Photo-Secession  Gallery,  New  York,  1905.  The  follow- 
ing year  Steichen  settled  in  Voulangis  near  Paris,  where 
he  bred  plants  and  painted.  Sent  to  Stieglitz  for  exhibi- 
tion works  by  modern  artists.  During  World  War  I  was 
chief  of  aerial  photography  in  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary Forces.  After  the  war  returned  to  Voulangis, 
burned  his  paintings  and  arty  gum  print  photographs 
and  started  straight  photography.  Chief  photographer  for 
Vogue  and  Vanity  Fair  1923-37,  taking  fashion  photo- 
graphs and  portraits  of  leading  personalities.  In  World 
War  II  was  in  command  of  all  Navy  combat  photography. 
In  1947  Steichen  was  appointed  director  of  the  photo- 
graphic department  at  the  Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New 
York.  Organized  in  three  years'  work,  with  assistance  of 
Wayne  Miller,  'The  Family  of  Man'  exhibition,  opened 
at  the  Museum  in  1955  and  circulated  throughout  the 
world.  Still  active  at  the  Museum,  which  put  on  a 
retrospective  exhibition  of  his  photographs,  1961. 

Professor  Otto  Steinert    b.  1915 

Born  at  Saarbriicken.  Doctor  of  Medicine,  Berlin  1939. 
Steinert's  interest  in  the  graphic  arts  and  particularly 
photography  led  to  his  giving  up  medicine  in  1948  in 
order  to  teach  photography  at  the  State  School  of  Ap- 
plied Art  at  Saarbriicken,  of  which  he  was  appointed 
director  in  1952.  In  1959  Professor  Steinert  became  head 
of  the  department  of  photography  at  the  Folkwang-Schulc 
in  Essen.  Founder  of  'Subjective  Photography'  in  1950, 
and  organized  large  exhibitions  in  1951,  1954  and  1958, 
shown  in  many  countries.  Published  Subjektive  Foto- 
grafie  I  (1952)  and  Subjektive  Fotografie  2  (1955). 

Carl  Ferdinand  Stelzner    c.  1 806-1 894 
Born  at  Flensburg,  Stelzner  learned  miniature  painting 
from  Isabey  and  other  well-known  artists  in  Paris. 
Together  with  his  first  wife  Caroline,  also  a  miniature 


245 


painter,  he  painted  many  distinguished  people  in  Ger- 
many, England,  Austria,  Russia,  before  settling  in  Ham- 
burg. In  1842  Stelzner  changed  over  to  the  daguerreo- 
type and  opened  a  portrait  studio  in  Hamburg  in  collab- 
oration with  Hermann  Biow.  Together  they  took  the 
earliest  news  photographs:  the  ruins  after  the  Hamburg 
fire,  May  1842.  The  following  year  Stelzner  opened  his 
own  studio.  About  the  mid-'fifties  his  sight  failed  and 
henceforth  the  studio  was  run  by  an  employee.  Stelzner 
died  in  Hamburg. 

Alfred  Stieglitz  1864-1946 

Born  at  Hoboken,  New  Jersey,  son  of  a  German  immi- 
grant businessman.  Educated  in  New  York,  studied 
mechanical  engineering  and  photography  at  the  Berlin 
Polytechnic  1882-90.  After  returning  to  New  York 
Stieglitz  worked  for  five  years  in  a  photo-engraving  firm. 
In  1892  he  began  taking  street-life  photographs  of  New 
York  with  a  hand-camera.  Three  years  later  he  retired 
from  business  and  devoted  himself  to  furthering  creative 
photography  and — later — the  recognition  of  modern  art. 
Advocate  of  straight  photography  and  prominent  ex- 
hibitor. Organized  the  Photo-Secession  1902,  founded 
and  edited  the  magazine  Camera  Work  1903-17,  directed 
the  Photo-Secession  Gallery  at  291  Fifth  Avenue  1905- 
17,  where  he  introduced  the  work  of  modern  photo- 
graphers and  of  many  European  avant-garde  artists  to 
America.  Director  of  'Intimate  Gallery'  1925,  and  'An 
American  Place'  1929-46.  Died  in  New  York. 

Sir  Benjamin  Stone  1838-1914 

A  well-to-do  businessman  and  Member  of  Parliament 
for  Birmingham,  Stone  learned  photography  in  order  to 
record  British  ceremonies,  festivals  and  customs  that 
were  dying  out.  Founded  in  1895  the  National  Photo- 
graphic Record  Association.  Stone  made  the  first  docu- 
mentation of  the  ceremonies  connected  with  the  Houses 
of  Parliament  and  was  the  first  to  photograph  a  Corona- 
tion (George  V's)  inside  Westminster  Abbey.  Published 
a  selection  of  his  photographs  in  a  two-volume  book 
Sir  Benjamin  Stone's  Pictures  (1905).  About  6,000  photo- 
graphs were  given  to  the  British  Museum;  Stone's  per- 
sonal collection  of  22,000  photographs  was  presented  to 
the  Birmingham  Reference  Library  in  1922. 

Paul  Strand   b.  1890 

Born  in  New  York  City,  of  Bohemian  descent.  In  1907 
Strand  learned  photography  from  Lewis  Hine  and  five 
years  later  set  up  as  a  commercial  photographer.  Street- 
life  photographs  of  New  York  1915;  first  to  advocate  new 
realism  in  photography  191 7.  War  service  as  X-ray  tech- 
nician led  Strand  to  make  medical  films  1921.  Free-lance 
news-reel  cinematographer  1922-32.  Began  1926  close- 
up  still  photographs  of  natural  forms.  1933-4  chief 
photographer  and  cinematographer  to  Mexican  Ministry 
of  Education  for  whom  he  made  a  film  about  fishermen, 
'The  Wave'.  Returned  to  U.S.  1935  and  worked  on  docu- 
mentary films.  During  World  War  II  Strand  made  some 


films  for  Government  agencies,  and  returned  to  still 
photography.  One-man  show  at  Museum  of  Modern 
Art,  New  York  1945.  Published  portfolio  of  twenty 
Mexican  photographs  (1940),  Time  in  New  England  with 
text  by  Nancy  Newhall  (1950).  In  1948  Strand  settled  in 
France,  taking  photographs  for  La  France  de  Profile  with 
text  by  Claude  Roy  (1952),  followed  by  a  'portrait'  of  an 
Italian  village — Un  Paese  with  text  by  Cesare  Zavattini 
(1955).  Lives  at  Ongeval  near  Paris,  working  on  new 
book  projects. 

Frank  M.  Sutcliffe    1 859-1940 

Son  of  a  watercolour  artist.  Opened  a  photographic  por- 
trait studio  in  Whitby  1875,  but  preferred  landscape  and 
genre  subjects  and  was  prominent  in  the  naturalistic 
school  of  photography.  Founder  member  of  the  Linked 
Ring  1892.  In  1923  Sutcliffe  was  appointed  curator  of 
the  Whitby  Museum. 

William  Henry  Fox  Talbot,  F.R.S.  1 800-1 877 
Born  at  Melbury  House,  Dorsetshire.  Talbot  distin- 
guished himself  in  many  fields  apart  from  inventing 
photography  on  paper.  Experimenting  with  the  camera 
obscura  and  silver  chloride  paper  he  discovered  in  June 
1835  the  fixing  property  of  common  salt  and  this  enabled 
him  to  produce  the  first  permanent  photograph  on  paper. 
Multifarious  activities  in  other  fields  made  him  overlook 
the  importance  of  his  discovery,  which  was  in  any  case 
only  in  the  embryo  state,  but  on  hearing  of  Dagucrre's 
invention  in  January  1839  Talbot  published  his  Photo- 
genic Drawing  process  to  establish  priority.  He  patented 
his  greatly  improved  process  called  Calotype,  the  right  to 
sell  prints,  and  their  use  in  book  illustration,  in  February 
1 841.  Relaxed  his  patent  in  favour  of  amateurs  in  July 
1852  at  the  request  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Royal 
Academy  and  the  Royal  Society.  Published  the  first 
photographically-illustrated  book  The  Pencil  of  Nature 
(1844-6)  and  Sun  Pictures  in  Scotland  (1845).  Pioneered 
flash  photography  of  fast-moving  objects  (1851)  and 
introduced  in  1852  Photoglyphic  Engraving  which  was 
perfected  six  years  later.  Talbot's  claim  that  Frederick 
Scott  Archer's  collodion  process  (1851)  was  covered  by 
his  Calotype  patent  led  to  a  law-suit  in  December  1854, 
which  he  lost.  His  various  patents  greatly  retarded  the 
progress  of  photography  in  Britain  until  1855.  Died  at 
Lacock  Abbey,  Wiltshire,  the  Talbot  family  seat. 

William  Telfer 

An  early  professional  daguerreotypist  in  Regent  Street, 
London,  Telfer  abandoned  photography  when  the 
daguerreotype  was  superseded  by  the  collodion  process. 

John  Thomson    183  7-1 921 

Scottish  explorer  and  photographer.  Following  ten  years' 
travels  in  the  Far  East,  Thomson  published  The  Anti- 
quities of  Cambodia  (1867),  Illustrations  of  China  and  Its 
People  (1873-4)  and  The  Straits  of  Malacca,  Indo  China 
and  China  (1877).  The  two  former  were  illustrated  with 


246 


his  photographs,  the  latter  with  woodcuts  from  his 
photographs  and  sketches.  Settled  in  London  c.  1870 
and  became  instructor  in  photography  to  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society.  Translated  Gaston  Tissandier's 
Les  Merveilles  de  la  Photographic  into  English  (1876).  In 
this  year  Thomson  made  the  first  social  photo-docu- 
mentation, Street  Life  in  London,  published  1877.  In 
1880  he  pioneered  another  field,  'at  home'  portraiture 
of  celebrities.  He  also  had  a  portrait  studio  in  Grosvenor 
Street,  London. 

Professor  Hans  Wat zek  1 848-1903 
Viennese  amateur  photographer  from  1890  onward. 
Joined  the  Viennese  Camera  Club  1891  and  was  soon 
with  Henneberg  and  Kiihn  one  of  the  three  leading 
figures  in  artistic  photography  in  Austria.  Favoured  the 
gum  print  process  and  introduced  the  simple  'monocle' 
lens  to  obtain  greater  diffusion  in  his  impressionistic 
photographs — portraits,  landscapes,  still-life.  Prominent 
at  international  exhibitions. 

Weegee  (pseudonym  for  Arthur  Fellig)  b.  1900 
Born  1900  in  Austria.  Came  to  New  York  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  the  son  of  a  poor  Jewish  immigrant.  Fellig  was 
in  turn  dishwasher,  darkroom  assistant  (for  twenty  years) 
and  street  photographer  before  becoming  a  press  photo- 
grapher about  1935.  Built  up  a  big  reputation  with  his 
candid  news  coverage  of  poverty,  crime,  and  calamities 
in  New  York  during  fifteen  years'  close  collaboration 
with  the  New  York  police  as  a  free-lance  photographer. 
In  the  last  few  years  won  notoriety  with  brilliant  satirical 
photo-caricatures  of  famous  contemporaries,  and  other 
distortion  pictures  in  both  cine  and  still  photography. 
Published  Naked  City  (New  York)  1945  and  Naked 
Hollywood  1950. 

Edward  Weston  1886-1958 

Born  at  Highland  Park,  Illinois.  Began  career  in  Cali- 
fornia as  an  itinerant  photographer.  Opened  portrait 
studio  in  Tropico,  now  Glendale,  California,  191 1,  and 
also  made  traditional  'Salon'  style  pictures  for  exhibi- 
tions. During  a  three-year  stay  in  Mexico  City  as  a  por- 
trait photographer  1923-6  Weston  came  under  the 
influence  of  the  painter  Diego  Rivera  and  his  outlook 
changed  completely.  On  his  return  to  California  in  1927 
he  started  making  sharp  objective  photographs  and 
close-ups  of  unusual  natural  forms.  Opened  portrait 
studio  with  his  son  Brett,  first  in  San  Francisco,  later  in 
Carmel.  Founder  member  of  the  F.64  Group,  1932. 
Five  years  later  Guggenheim  Fellowship  enabled  Weston 
to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  landscapes  and  close-ups 
of  nature,  selections  of  which  were  published  in  his 
books  California  and  the  West  (1940)  and  My  Camera  on 
Point  Lobos  (1950).  Unable  to  photograph  in  the  last 
decade  of  his  life  owing  to  Parkinson's  disease,  Weston 
died  at  his  house  in  Carmel,  California. 


Clarence  Hudson  White  1 871-1925 
For  sixteen  years  head  bookkeeper  in  a  wholesale  grocery 
firm  at  Newark,  Ohio,  and  amateur  photographer  from 
1894  onward.  Founder  member  of  the  Photo-Secession 
1902,  advocate  of  straight  photography  and  prominent 
exhibitor.  Lecturer  on  photography  at  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, New  York,  from  1907  until  his  death.  In  1910  White 
established  his  own  summer  school  of  photography  with 
Max  Weber,  the  painter  and  Paul  L.  Anderson.  Until 
1915  this  was  located  at  Sequinland,  Maine,  and  from 
1916-25  at  Canaan,  Conn.  White  was  also  instructor 
at  the  Brooklyn  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences  from 
1908-21. 

Henry  White    1 819- 1903 

Partner  in  a  firm  of  London  solicitors,  and  prominent 
amateur  photographer  from  1854-c.  1864.  One  of  the 
earliest  artistic  landscape  photographers  and  considered 
by  many  contemporaries  the  best,  White  showed  his 
pictures  frequently  at  international  photographic  exhibi- 
tions. His  landscape  idylls  were  compared  with  the  poetic 
images  of  James  Thomson's  The  Seasons. 

Benjamin  Gay  Wilkinson  1857-1927 
Born  in  London.  A  solicitor  1881-1926,  photography 
was  for  Wilkinson  only  a  holiday  pursuit.  First  exhibited 
in  1877,  and  became  a  prominent  follower  of  the  natural- 
istic school  of  photography.  Founder  member  of  the 
Linked  Ring  1892.  Died  at  his  house  at  Limpsfield, 
Surrey. 

Rolf  Winquist    b.  1910 

Born  in  Gothenburg,  Winquist  studied  photography 
there  c.  1930.  Until  1933  commercial  photographer  and 
I933~7  photographer  on  Swedish-American  Line 
cruises.  Settling  in  Stockholm,  Winquist  became  fashion 
and  portrait  photographer  at  the  studio  of  Ake  Lange 
and,  from  1939  onward,  at  the  Studio  Uggla  where  he 
still  works.  Since  1950  Winquist  takes  mainly  portraits. 
Member  of  the  Swedish  group  of  photographers 
'Tio'. 

Ida  Kar    b.  1908 

Born  at  Tombov  near  Moscow,  daughter  of  an  Armenian 
professor  of  physics  and  mathematics.  Educated  at  the 
Lycee  Francais  in  Alexandria,  studied  singing  in  Paris 
1930-34.  Opened  a  professional  portrait  studio  under 
the  name  Tdabel'  in  Cairo  in  1940  in  partnership  with 
her  first  husband.  Came  to  London  in  1945  and  has 
been  a  free-lance  portrait  photograher  ever  since.  Her 
portraits  of  famous  artists,  writers  and  musicians,  begun 
in  1953,  are  taken  for  her  own  pleasure.  One-man  ex- 
hibition at  the  Whitechapel  Art  Gallery  March /April 
i960;  Moscow  April  i960. 


247 


PROCESSES 


Albumen  process 

The  first  practical  process  on  glass,  devised  by  Abel 
Niepce  de  Saint-Victor  (a  cousin  of  Nicephore  Niepce) 
and  communicated  to  the  Academie  des  Sciences,  Paris, 
on  12  June  1848.  A  glass  plate  was  coated  with  a  thin 
layer  of  white  of  egg  containing  a  solution  of  potassium 
iodide,  and  when  dry,  sensitized  with  an  acid  solution  of 
nitrate  of  silver.  After  exposure,  the  latent  image  was 
developed  with  gallic  acid.  On  account  of  its  slowness 
(5-15  minutes'  exposure  according  to  circumstances)  its 
application  to  portraiture  was  precluded,  but  the  process 
was  excellent  for  landscapes,  architecture  and  art  repro- 
ductions, giving  very  fine  detail  owing  to  the  perfect 
transparency  of  the  medium.  The  advantages  of  the 
much  faster  collodion  process  on  glass  introduced  in 
1 85 1  soon  made  the  albumen  process  obsolete  except  for 
lantern  slides.  The  positive  prints  were  either  Calotype 
positives  or,  more  usually,  from  1851  onward  albumen 
prints. 

Albumen  prints 

The  albumen  printing  paper  introduced  by  L.  D. 
Blanquart-Evrard  in  a  communication  to  the  Academie 
des  Sciences,  Paris,  on  27  May  1850  remained  in  general 
use  until  c.1895.  After  the  first  ten  years  or  so  this  glossy 
printing-out  paper  could  be  bought  partly  prepared,  i.e. 
coated  with  a  thin  film  of  white  of  egg.  It  was  sensitized 
with  silver  nitrate  solution  by  the  photographer.  To 
avoid  an  unattractive  yellow  colour,  and  to  achieve 
greater  permanence,  the  albumen  print  was  generally 
toned  with  chloride  of  gold,  which  produced  various 
shades  of  sepia.  It  was  exceedingly  slow,  needing  an 
exposure  of  some  hours,  so  could  not  be  used  for 
enlarging. 

Ambrotype,  or  collodion  positive  on  glass 
A  modification  of  the  collodion  process  devised  in  1851 
by  Frederick  Scott  Archer  and  Peter  W.  Fry.  The 
under-exposed  negative  was  bleached  with  nitric  acid  or 
bichloride  of  mercury,  and  when  framed  with  a  backing 
of  black  velvet,  black  paper  or  opaque  varnish,  it  ex- 
hibited a  positive  effect.  Ambrotypes  were  made  in  small 
sizes  like  daguerreotypes,  and  fitted  into  similar  cases. 
For  these  reasons  they  are  frequently  confused;  yet  the 
bright  mirror-like  surface  of  the  daguerreotype  is  dis- 
tinctly different  from  the  dull  grey  appearance  of  the 

A  mm  W  »-  j— v  ■*-  r  w  A 

Ambrotype. 


Ambrotypes  were  used  almost  exclusively  for  por- 
traiture, and  since  the  materials  were  cheaper  than  the 
daguerreotype  and  the  manipulation  simpler,  they  soon 
replaced  the  daguerreotype  altogether.  Ambrotypes  were 
very  popular  in  Europe  with  the  lower-class  photo- 
graphers from  1852-1862,  when  the  carte-de-visite  super- 
seded them.  In  America  during  the  same  period  the 
ferrotype  (a  variation  of  the  Ambrotype  on  lacquered 
sheet  metal)  was  in  common  use  at  the  cheaper  photo- 
graphic establishments. 

Bromoil  process 

This  process  introduced  by  E.  J.  Wall  and  C.  Wclborne 
Piper  in  1907  largely  replaced  the  oil-pigment  process 
because  it  could  be  used  for  enlargements  as  well  as  con- 
tact prints.  The  print  was  made  on  fast  gelatine-bromide 
paper,  and  then  bleached  to  get  rid  of  the  black  silver 
image.  After  fixing  and  washing,  the  resulting  gelatine 
relief  print  would  take  up  oil-pigment  of  any  colour,  ap- 
plied with  a  brush.  The  wet  relief  print  was  put  on  a 
glass  plate  and  inked  with  the  chosen  oil-pigment.  The 
gelatine  absorbed  the  pigment  gradually,  according  to 
the  degree  in  which  it  had  been  affected  by  light,  but 
variations  in  brush  action  and  the  use  of  pigment  of 
different  consistency  allowed  the  photographer  a  certain 
amount  of  control.  Action  with  a  dry  brush  removed 
surplus  pigment  and  lightened  the  tone  in  the  highlights. 

Calotype 

Endeavouring  to  improve  Photogenic  Drawing,  Talbot 
on  20-21  September  1840  made  the  important  discovery 
of  developing  the  latent  image,  which  reduced  the  ex- 
posure time  to  a  few  minutes. 

A  sheet  of  writing-paper  was  sensitized  with  solutions 
of  nitrate  of  silver  and  iodide  of  potassium,  forming 
silver  iodide.  After  exposure,  the  latent  image  was 
developed  with  gallo-nitrate  of  silver,  fixed  with  sodium 
hyposulphite,  washed  and  dried.  Sometimes  the  nega- 
tive was  made  more  transparent  by  waxing  it,  to  facilitate 
the  process  of  making  prints  and  to  minimize  the  appear- 
ance of  the  fibres  of  the  paper.  Owing  to  the  texture  of 
the  paper,  the  Calotype  is  characterized  by  broad 
effects  of  light  and  shade.  The  positive  prints  are  reddish 
or  purplish  brown  in  colour.  The  average  exposure  time 
was  a  few  minutes,  varying  considerably  according  to 
size  of  picture  and  light  conditions.  Pictures  as  large  as 
12  in.  x  16  in.  are  not  uncommon. 

248 


The  Talbotype  or  Calotype  (from  the  Greek  kalos  = 
beautiful)  was  patented  in  England,  Wales  and  the 
Colonies  in  February  1841,  in  France  in  August  1841 
and  in  the  United  States  in  June  1847. 

At  the  request  of  the  Presidents  of  the  Royal  Academy 
and  Royal  Society,  Talbot — who  was  very  litigious  as 
regards  his  rights — relaxed  the  Calotype  patent  in  1852 
in  favour  of  amateurs.  The  chief  period  of  its  use  in 
England  and  Wales  was  1852-7.  It  was  largely  super- 
seded by  the  collodion  process,  which  until  December 
1854  Talbot  claimed  to  be  covered  by  his  patent. 

Up  to  c.1857  prints  from  glass  negatives  were  also 
occasionally  made  on  silver  chloride  (Calotype)  paper. 

Carbon  print 

Based  on  Alphonse  Poitevin's  carbon  process  of  1855, 
perfected  by  Sir  Joseph  Wilson  Swan  in  1864.  In  prin- 
ciple it  was  similar  to  the  gum  print,  except  that  gelatine 
not  gum  arabic  was  used,  and  the  pigment  was  powdered 
carbon  (which  could  be  tinted  by  the  addition  of  other 
colouring  matter).  It  was  usual  to  buy  manufactured 
'carbon  tissue'  (a  thin  sheet  of  coloured  gelatine),  which 
the  photographer  sensitized  with  bichromate  of  potash. 
It  was  then  exposed  in  contact  with  a  negative.  Any 
manipulation  or  retouching  had  to  be  done  on  the 
negative.  Gelatine,  which  becomes  insoluble  by  the  action 
of  light,  is  much  harder  than  gum,  and  the  amount  that 
dissolves  is  completely  controlled  by  the  exposure,  and 
cannot  be  altered  by  brushing,  etc.,  as  in  the  gum  print. 
After  the  gelatine  was  washed  out,  the  print  was  immersed 
in  an  alum  clearing  bath,  rinsed  and  dried.  The  resulting 
print  looks  like  an  ordinary  photograph. 

Collodion  process 

Frederick  Scott  Archer's  wet  collodion  process  on  glass 
plates  was  published  by  him  in  The  Chemist,  March 
1 85 1.  It  was  the  fastest  process  so  far  devised  and  the  first 
in  England  to  be  free  from  patent  restrictions.  Hence  its 
immediate  popularity,  superseding  all  other  processes. 

Collodion  containing  potassium  iodide  was  poured  on 
to  the  glass  plate,  which  was  tilted  until  the  collodion 
formed  an  even  coating.  Sensitizing  followed  immedi- 
ately by  dipping  the  plate  in  a  bath  of  nitrate  of  silver 
solution.  It  then  had  to  be  exposed  while  still  moist, 
because  the  sensitivity  deteriorated  greatly  as  the  collo- 
dion dried.  Development  had  also  to  be  carried  out 
directly  after  exposure,  with  either  pyrogallic  acid  or 
ferrous  sulphate,  and  fixed  with  sodium  hyposulphite 
or  potassium  cyanide.  For  the  travelling  photographer 
this  necessitated  transporting  a  dark-tent  and  an  entire 
darkroom  outfit  to  the  scene  of  operation. 

Exposures  varied  from  10  seconds  to  ih  minutes  for 
landscape  and  architectural  pictures  of  moderate  size. 
Ambrotype  portraits  could  be  taken  in  5  to  20  seconds. 

Though  a  number  of  so-called  dry  collodion  processes 
were  introduced  in  the  1850s  and  '60s,  their  slowness 
was  a  serious  drawback  compared  with  wet  collodion, 
which  remained  in  general  use  until  c.1880  when  the 


still  faster  and  more  convenient  gelatine  dry  plate  and 
cut  film  were  introduced. 

The  positive  copies  made  from  collodion  negatives 
are  usually  albumen  prints,  to  which  a  warm  sepia  colour 
and  greater  permanence  was  imparted  by  a  gold-toning 
bath. 

Controlled  printing  processes 

The  manipulated  prints  favoured  by  the  majority  of 
pictorial  photographers  of  the  aesthetic  period  1895-1914 
were  made  by  various  techniques,  of  which  the  most 
popular  were  the  gum  print,  oil-pigment  process,  and 
bromoil  process.  They  all  allowed  the  photographer 
latitude  in  altering  the  image. 

Daguerreotype 

Invented  by  Louis  Jacques  Mande  Daguerre  in  1837 
and  named  after  him,  the  process  was  given  'free  to  the 
world'  by  the  French  Government  on  19  August  1839— 
but  had  been  patented  by  the  inventor  in  England, 
Wales  and  the  Colonics  five  days  earlier. 

Silvered  copper  plates  (bought  ready-made)  were  ex- 
posed to  the  fumes  of  iodine,  and  after  exposure  in  the 
camera  the  latent  image  was  developed  with  mercury 
vapour,  fixed  with  sodium  hyposulphite,  and  rinsed.  The 
result  was  a  positive  picture,  which  could  not  be  multi- 
plied, and  had  to  be  protected  by  a  cover-glass  from 
oxidation  and  from  abrasion. 

In  an  attempt  to  reduce  the  15-20  min.  exposure  to 
make  the  daguerreotype  applicable  to  portraiture,  con- 
siderable chemical  and  optical  modifications  were  intro- 
duced during  1 840-1.  Chemical  acceleration  methods 
were  discovered  by  J.  F.  Goddard  (1840),  Franz 
Kratochwila  (1841)  and  Antoine  Claudet  (1841).  Optic- 
ally, the  speeding  up  was  effected  by  Alexander  Wolcott's 
convex-mirror  camera  without  a  lens  (1840)  and  the 
large-aperture  Petzval  lens  introduced  by  Voigtlander 
(1841).  A  further  improvement  was  toning  with  chloride 
of  gold,  introduced  by  Hippolyte  Fizcau  in  1840. 

The  world's  first  public  portrait  studio  was  opened  in 
New  York  by  Alexander  Wolcott  at  the  beginning  of 
March  1840,  and  on  23  March  1841  followed  Richard 
Beard's  in  London. 

The  daguerreotype  gave  remarkably  fine  detail,  but 
suffered  from  several  disadvantages,  (a)  The  picture  was 
laterally  reversed,  unless  taken  through  a  reversing 
prism  (introduced  by  Antoine  Claudet  in  1841)  which, 
however,  trebled  the  exposure  time,  (b)  Being  on  solid 
metal,  the  daguerreotype  could  not  be  used  as  a  nega- 
tive for  the  production  of  copies;  each  picture  was 
unique,  (c)  Owing  to  the  mirror-like  surface  of  the  plate, 
the  picture  has  to  be  viewed  at  a  certain  angle. 

In  Great  Britain  the  daguerreotype  did  not  long  sur- 
vive the  introduction  of  the  wet  collodion  process  in 
1 85 1,  though  a  few  daguerreotypists  continued  to  make 
pictures  until  about  1858.  In  America  the  process 
remained  popular  until  the  mid-'sixties. 


249 


Gelatine  emulsion 

The  invention  of  gelatino-bromide  emulsion  for  coating 
glass  plates,  and  from  1889  onward  celluloid  roll-film,  is 
usually  attributed  to  Dr  Richard  Leach  Maddox,  who 
published  a  fragmentary  report  of  his  experiments  in  the 
British  Journal  of  Photography,  8  September  1 87 1.  The 
emulsion  underwent  considerable  improvement  by  John 
Burgess,  Richard  Kennett  and  Charles  Bennett,  and  by 
April  1878  four  firms  in  Great  Britain  were  producing 
rapid  gelatine  dry  plates  on  a  large  scale.  The  exposures 
were  ten  to  twenty  times  faster  than  with  wet  collodion, 
which  by  1881  was  more  or  less  superseded. 

Though  the  gelatine  emulsion  is  basically  the  nega- 
tive material  still  in  use,  present-day  emulsions  differ 
widely  through  the  addition  of  a  variety  of  chemicals 
with  the  object  of  (a)  increasing  its  speed  a  hundred 
to  a  thousandfold  compared  with  1880,  and  (b)  making 
the  originally  colour-blind  emulsion  sensitive  to  the  cor- 
rect transcription  of  some  (orthochromatic)  or  all  (pan- 
chromatic) of  the  spectrum  colours. 

Positive  contact  copies  from  gelatine  plates  or  films 
were  usually  made  until  c.1895  on  toned  albumen  paper. 
This  was  gradually  replaced  by  gelatine  silver  chloride 
printing-out  paper  introduced  in  1882,  and  the  consider- 
ably faster  chloro-bromide  or  gaslight  paper  introduced 
the  following  year.  Enlargements,  which  became  general 
practice  with  the  widespread  use  of  small  plate  or 
miniature  cameras  in  the  late  1920s,  are  made  on 
bromide  paper,  the  fastest  of  all  the  gelatine  papers,  and 
manufactured  since  1880. 

Gum  bichromate  process,  or  gum  print 
The  gum  process  introduced  by  A.  Rouille-Ladeveze  in 
1894  and  popularized  by  Robert  Demachy  the  following 
year  was  an  adaptation  of  Alphonse  Poitcvin's  gum 
bichromate  process  of  1855,  the  principle  being  that  those 
parts  affected  by  light  became  to  some  extent  hardened. 

Sized  paper  was  coated  with  a  mixture  of  gum  arabic, 
potassium  bichromate  solution  (the  sensitizer)  and 
watercolour  pigment  of  the  desired  colour.  When  dry, 
the  prepared  paper  was  exposed  in  contact  with  a  nega- 
tive. After  exposure,  the  print  was  put  face  downward 
in  a  dish  of  cold  water,  and  the  pigmented  gum  in  the 
parts  that  had  not  been  hardened  by  light  were  washed 
out.  The  amount  washed  out  could  be  influenced  by  the 
warmth  of  the  water,  by  spraying,  sponging,  or  brushing, 
according  to  the  photographer's  intentions.  The  process 
could  be  repeated  several  times  using  pigments  of 
different  colours.  Finally  the  print  was  soaked  in  a  solu- 
tion of  potash  alum  to  get  clear  highlights,  and  then 
rinsed  in  water.  By  modifications  in  coating  and  washing 
out,  the  photographer  exercised  a  great  deal  of  control 
over  the  final  result.  By  choosing  different  types  of  paper 
and  pigment  colours  he  could  create  variations  of  the 
same  picture. 

Heliography 

The  process  by  which  Nicephore  Niepce  took  the 


world's  first  camera  photograph  in  1826  consisted  in 
coating  a  polished  pewter  plate  with  bitumen  of  Judea 
dissolved  in  white  petroleum.  This  asphalt  hardens  un- 
der the  influence  of  light.  After  an  exposure  of  at  least 
eight  hours  in  the  camera,  the  latent  image  on  the  plate 
was  made  visible  by  dissolving  away  the  parts  of  the 
bitumen  which  had  not  been  hardened  by  light,  with  a 
solvent  of  oil  of  lavender  and  white  petroleum.  The  re- 
sult was  a  permanent  positive  picture  in  which  the  lights 
were  represented  by  bitumen  and  the  shades  by  bare 
metal.  Niepce's  ambition  was  to  etch  the  plate  with  acid, 
ink  it,  and  pull  paper  prints  from  it,  but  this  he  never 
achieved  because  his  camera  pictures  were  too  weak. 
However,  he  succeeded  in  copying  engravings  by  super- 
position in  about  three  hours  in  sunshine,  and  some  of 
these  plates  (which  he  also  called  heliographs)  he  had 
etched  and  printed  from  by  the  Parisian  engraver,  A.  F. 
I.emaitre.  The  earliest  heliograph  of  an  engraving  was 
made  by  Niepce  on  glass  in  1822,  the  best  is  on  pewter 
and  dates  from  1826.  Other  materials  used  were  zinc 
and  silvered  copper  plates. 

Oil-pigment  process 

In  this  process,  introduced  by  G.  E.  H.  Rawlins  in  1904, 
paper  coated  with  gelatine  was  sensitized  with  a  solution 
of  potassium  bichromate.  Exposure  under  a  negative, 
followed  by  thorough  soaking,  produced  a  gelatine  relief 
with  the  highlights  considerably  raised,  i.e.  the  un- 
affected areas  of  the  gelatine  absorbed  water  and  swelled 
in  inverse  proportion  to  their  exposure  to  light.  The 
picture  was  produced  by  the  application  of  oil-pigment 
or  fatty  ink  dabbed  on  gently  on  the  moist  print  with  a 
brush.  The  gelatine  accepted  or  rejected  the  pigment 
according  to  the  degree  to  which  the  light  action  had 
taken  place  on  the  bichromated  gelatine:  the  swollen 
areas  repelled  the  greasy  ink  and  the  hardened  areas 
accepted  it.  The  photographer  could  only  exercise  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  control  in  lightening  or  strengthening 
parts  locally.  The  pigment  image  could  be  transferred  to 
another  sheet  of  paper  in  a  press,  and  then  re-inked.  This 
double  procedure  increased  the  contrast. 

Photogenic  Drawing 

A  method  of  making  light  pictures  on  writing  paper 
sensitized  with  silver  chloride  and  fixed  in  a  solution 
of  common  salt,  invented  by  W.  H.  Fox  Talbot  in  1835 
but  not  made  known  until  January  1839.  On  hearing  of 
Daguerre's  invention,  Talbot,  wishing  to  establish  prior- 
ity, exhibited  a  number  of  Photogenic  Drawings  at  the 
Royal  Institution,  London,  on  25  January,  and  at  the 
Royal  Society  six  days  later. 

Owing  to  the  length  of  exposure  in  the  camera  (£-i 
hour),  Photogenic  Drawings  were  in  the  main  negative 
contact  copies  of  botanical  specimens,  lace,  etc.,  but 
Talbot  also  took  some  views  of  his  house,  Lacock  Abbey, 
in  the  camera  obscura  and  exhibited  some  positive  copies 
printed  from  his  paper  negatives.  Although  Photogenic 
Drawings  were  technically  much  inferior  to  the  daguer- 


250 


reotype,  the  negative  positive  principle  was  of  the  greatest 
significance  for  the  future  of  photography. 

Platinotype 

The  introduction  of  platinum  instead  of  silver  salts  for 
positive  printing  is  due  to  William  Willis,  whose  platino- 
type paper  was  put  on  the  market  in  1879.  Its  great 
advantage  over  other  positive  papers  was  the  permanence 
of  platinum  prints.  The  image  was  partially  printed  out 
in  one-third  of  the  printing  time  necessary  with  albumen 
paper,  and  then  developed  to  its  full  strength.  The  matt 
platinotype  was,  after  the  Calotype,  the  most  beautiful 
positive  printing  surface,  giving  very  delicate  halftones 
and  rich  blacks.  Its  soft  silver-grey  colour  was  particu- 
larly favoured  by  artistic  photographers.  (It  could  also 
be  toned  sepia.)  Owing  to  the  constantly  rising  price  of 
this  rare  metal,  from  2$s.  an  ounce  in  1879  to  £3  in  1891 
and  still  higher  in  the  early  years  of  this  century,  platino- 


type paper  was  replaced  by  palladium  paper  during 
World  War  I. 

Waxed  paper  process 

An  improvement  on  the  Calotype  process,  published  on 
8  December  1851  by  Gustavc  Le  Gray.  The  negative 
was  taken  on  thin  paper  saturated  with  white  wax.  This 
imparted  to  the  paper  greater  transparency  than  the 
Calotype,  giving  as  fine  detail  as  a  glass  negative.  The 
waxed  paper  process  was  more  convenient  than  the  Calo- 
type for  the  travelling  photographer  because  the  paper 
could  be  prepared  ten  to  fourteen  days  beforehand 
(instead  of  the  day  before  as  with  the  Calotype),  and  did 
not  need  to  be  developed  until  several  days  after  the  pic- 
ture had  been  taken  (whereas  the  Calotype  had  to  be 
developed  the  same  day).  Exposures  were  about  the 
same  as  with  the  Calotype,  but  development  took  from 
one  to  three  hours. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


AND  STUDY  LIST 


The  following  works  are  recommended  for  a  more 
detailed  study  of  aesthetic  trends  in  photography.  Some 
of  them  are  also  listed  in  the  biographical  entries: 

GENERAL  WORKS 

Freund,  Giselle.  La  Photographie  en  France  au  dix- 
neuvieme  Steele:  Essai  de  Sociologie  el  d'Esthetique.  Paris 
1936.  154  pp. 

Gernsheim,  Helmut.  Masterpieces  of  Victorian  Photo- 
graphy. London  1951.  107  pp.  including  72  plates. 
Gernsheim,  Helmut  and  Alison.  The  History  of  Photo- 
graphy from  the  earliest  use  of  the  camera  obscura  in  the 
eleventh  century  up  to  1914.  London  and  New  York 
1955.  395  pp.  and  359  illustrations. 
Ldcuyer,  Raymond.  Histoire  de  la  Photographie.  Paris 
1945.  452  pp.  including  approximately  500  illustrations. 
Newhall,  Beaumont.  The  History  of  Photography  from 
1839  to  the  present  day.  New  York  1949.  256  pp.  includ- 
ing 163  illustrations. 

Newhall,  Beaumont  and  Nancy.  Masters  of  Photo- 
graphy. New  York  1958.  192  pp.  including  150  illus- 
trations. 


Pollack,  Peter.  The  Picture  History  of  Photography  from 
the  earliest  beginnings  to  the  present  day.  New  York  1958. 
624  pp.  including  600  illustrations. 
Whiting,  John  R.  Photography  is  a  Language.  New  York 
1946.  142  pp.  including  many  illustrations. 

MONOGRAPHS  ABOUT,  AND  AUTOBIOGRAPHIES  BY,  IMPORTANT 
PHOTOGRAPHERS  WHO  ARE  ILLUSTRATED  IN  THIS  BOOK 

Atget,  Eugene.  Atget.  Introduction  by  Camille  Rccht. 
Paris,  Leipzig  and  New  York  1930.  34  pp.  and  96  plates. 
The  French  and  American  editions  are  introduced  by 
Pierre  Mac-Orlan. 

Bayard,  Hippolyte.  Bayard,  by  Lo  Duca.  Paris  1943. 
30  pp.  and  48  plates. 

Bayard,  Hippolyte.  Bayard,  ein  Erfinder  der  Photo- 
graphie. Introduction  by  Dr  Otto  Steinert  and  Pierre  G. 
Harmant.  Essen  1959.  18  pp.  text  and  28  plates. 
Beaton,  Cecil.  Photobiography.  London  1951.  254  pp. 
including  60  plates. 

Boord,  W.  Arthur  (editor).  Sun  Artists.  London  1891. 
62  pp.  and  32  plates.  Contains  monographs  on  J.  M. 


251 


Cameron,  Col  Gale,  H.  P.  Robinson,  Lyddell  Sawyer, 
J.  B.  B.  Wellington,  B.  Gay  Wilkinson. 
Brandt,  Bill.  Camera  in  London.  London  1948.  88  pp. 
including  58  plates. 

Brassai.  Brassaiby  Henry  Miller  and  Brassai.  Paris  1952. 
76  pp.  including  60  plates. 

Cameron,  J.  M.  Julia  Margaret  Cameron:  Her  Life  and 
Photographic  Work,  by  Helmut  Gernsheim.  London 
1948.  85  pp.  and  55  plates. 

Carroll,  Lewis.  Lewis  Carroll — Photographer,  by  Helmut 
Gernsheim.  London  and  New  York  1949.  138  pp.  and 
64  plates. 

Cartier-Bresson,  H.  The  Photographs  of  Henri  Cartier- 
Bresson,  by  Lincoln  Kirstein  and  Beaumont  Newhall. 
New  York  1947.  56  pp.  including  41  plates. 

Daguerre,  L.  J.  M.  L.J.  M.  Daguerre:  the  History  of  the 
Diorama  and  the  Daguerreotype,  by  Helmut  and  Alison 
Gernsheim.  London  and  New  York  1956.  220  pp.  and 
64  plates. 

Erfurth,  Hugo.  Sechsunddreissig  Kunstlerbildnisse,  with 
introduction  by  J.  A.  Schmoll  gen.  Eisenwerth.  Essen 
i960. 

Fenton,  Roger.  Roger  Fenton,  Photographer  of  the 
Crimean  War,  by  Helmut  and  Alison  Gernsheim.  London 
and  New  York  1954.  116  pp.  and  64  plates. 

Genthe,  Arnold.  As  I  Remember.  New  York  1937.  290 
pp.  and  112  illustrations. 

Gernsheim,  Helmut.  The  Man  Behind  the  Camera.  Lon- 
don 1948.  144  pp.  including  54  illustrations.  Contains 
chapters  on  Cecil  Beaton,  Helmut  Gernsheim,  E.  O. 
Hoppc,  Angus  McBean,  Felix  H.  Man,  Wolfgang 
Suschitzky,  etc. 


Hill,  D.  O.  David  Octavius  Hill:  der  Meister  der  Pkoto- 
graphie,  by  Heinrich  Schwarz.  Leipzig  1931.  61  pp.  and 
80  plates.  Also  English  and  American  editions  published 
in  1932. 

Hoppe,  E.  O.  Hundred  Thousand  Exposures.  London 
1945.  229  pp.  including  64  plates. 
Hutton,  Kurt.  Speaking  Likeness.  London  1947.  88  pp. 
including  58  plates. 

Lerski,  Helmar.  Der  Mensch  mein  Bruder,  a  symposium 
ed.  by  Annaliese  Lerski.  Dresden  1958.  31  pp.  and  79 
plates. 

Martin,  Paul.  Victorian  Snapshots.  London  1939.  72  pp. 
and  79  plates. 

Moholy-Nagy,  L.  L.  Moholy-Nagy:  60  Fotos,  edited 
and  introduced  by  Franz  Roh.  Berlin  1930. 
L.  Moholy-Nagy,  edited  by  Fr  Kalivoda.  Brno  1936. 
134  pp.  including  many  illustrations.  Text  in  Czech, 
English,  French  and  German. 

Nadar  (Gaspard  Felix  Tournachon).  Quand  j'etcis 
Photographe.  Paris  1899.  312  pp. 

Ray,  Man.  Man  Ray:  Photographs  1920-1934.  Hertford, 
U.S.A.  1934.  10  pp.  and  104  plates. 
Steichen,  Edward.  Edward  Steichen,  by  Carl  Sandberg. 
New  York  1929. 

Stieglitz,  Alfred.  America  and  Alfred  Stieglitz:  a  Collec- 
tive Portrait  (a  symposium).  New  York  1934.  339  pp. 
and  32  plates. 

Strand,  Paul.  Paul  Strand,  Photographs  1915-45,  by 
Nancy  Newhall.  New  York  1945.  32  pp.  including  23 
plates. 

Weston,  Edward.  Edward  Weston,  by  Nancy  Newhall. 
New  York  1946.  36  pp.  including  23  plates. 


BOOKS  SIGNIFICANT  FOR  CREATIVE  PHOTOGRAPHY  AT  VARIOUS  PERIODS 


I.  PICTORIAL  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Guest,  Antony.  Art  and  the  Camera.  London  1907. 
159  pp.  Illustrated. 

Hinton,  A.  Horslcy.  Artistic  Landscape  Photography. 
London  1896. 

Hinton,  A.  Horsley.  Practical  Pictorial  Photography. 
London  1910.  Part  I  108  pp.,  Part  II  69  pp.  Illustrated. 
Johnston,  J.  Dudley.  Some  Masterpieces  of  Photography 
from  the  Collection  of  the  Royal  Photographic  Society. 
London  1936.  56  plates. 

Petit,  Pierre  A.,  fils.  La  Photographie  Artistique.  Paris 
1883.  46  pp. 

Robinson,  Henry  Peach.  Pictorial  Effect  in  Photography. 
London  1869.  199  pp.  Illustrated. 
Robinson,  Henry  Peach.  Picture  Making  by  Photography. 
London  1884.  146  pp.  Illustrated. 

Robinson,  Henry  Peach.  The  Elements  of  a  Pictorial 
Photograph.  London  1896.  167  pp.  Illustrated. 


Robinson,  Henry  Peach.  Letters  on  Landscape  Photo- 
graphy. London  1888.  66  pp. 

Schintling,  Karl  von.  Kunst  und  Photographie.  Berlin 
1927.  68  pp.  Illustrated. 

Sporl,  H.  Portrait-Kunst  in  der  Photographie.  Part  I 

Asthetik.  Leipzig  1909.  125  pp.  Illustrated. 

Tilney,  F.  C.  The  Principles  of  Photographic  Pictorialism. 

Boston  1930.  218  pp.  and  80  plates. 

Wall,  A.  H.  Artistic  Landscape  Photography.  London 

1896.  171  pp.  Illustrated. 

II.  NATURALISTIC  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Emerson,  P.  H.  Naturalistic  Photography  for  Students  of 
the  Art.  London  1889.  307  pp. 

III.  IMPRESSIONISTIC  PHOTOGRAPHY 

Bourgeois,  Paul  (editor).  Esthetique  de  la  Photographie. 
Paris  1900.  96  pp.  Copiously  illustrated. 


252 


Demachy,  Robert,  and  Puyo,  C.  Les  Procedes  d'Art  en 
Photographie.  Paris  19C6.  146  pp.  and  42  plates. 
Doty,  Robert.  Photo- Secession.  Photography  as  a  Fine 
Art.  Rochester,  N.Y.  i960.  104  pp.  including  32  plates. 
Holme,  Charles.  Art  in  Photography.  London  1905. 
60  pp.  and  112  plates. 

Holme,  Charles.  Colour  Photography  and  other  recent 
developments  of  the  art  of  the  Camera.  London  1908. 
18  photographs  in  colour  and  98  in  monochrome. 
Juhl,  Ernst.  Das  Lichtbild  als  Kunstwerk.  Halle  1897. 
Juhl,   Ernst.   Internationale  Kunstphotographie.  Halle 
1900  and  1 901. 

Juhl,  Ernst  (editor).  Camera-Kunst  (a  symposium). 
Berlin  1903.  107  pp.  including  numerous  illustrations. 

Lichtwark,  Alfred.  Die  Bedeutung  der  Amateur  Photo- 
graphie. Halle  1894. 

Loescher,  Fritz.  Die  Bildnisphotographie.  Berlin  1903. 
200  pp.  including  94  photographs. 

Matthies-Masuren,  F.  Kiinstlerische  Photographie:  Ent- 
wicklung  und  Einfluss  in  Deutschland.  Berlin  1907.  117 
pp.  Illustrated. 

Puyo,  C.  Notes  sur  la  Photographic  Artistique.  Paris  1896. 
51  pp.  Illustrated. 

Sauvel,  Edouard.  De  la  Propriete  Artistique  en  Photo- 
graphie. Paris  1897.  126  pp. 

Sizeranne,  R.  de  la.  La  Photographie,  est-elle  un  Art? 
Paris  1899.  51  pp.  Illustrated. 

Gummidrucke  von  Hugo  Henneberg,  Heinrich  Kiihn,  Hans 
Watzek.  Halle  1902-3.  Portfolio  of  reproductions  of 
gum  prints. 

The  following  illustrated  periodicals  give  an  excellent 
picture  of  international  art  photography,  chiefly  of  the 
impressionist  period: 

Photograms  of  the  Year.  London  1895  to  date.  An  ex- 
cellent source  to  study  the  most  banal  photographs  shown 
at  the  chief  London  pictorial  exhibitions. 
The  Photographic  Art  Journal,  edited  by  Harry  Quilter 
and  Fred.  C.  Shardlow.  Leicester,  March  1901-Febru- 
ary  1904.  A  monthly  magazine  with  mainly  English 
illustrations. 

Die  Kunst  in  der  Photographie,  edited  by  Franz  Goerkc. 
Halle  1897-c.  1914.  First  a  bi-monthly,  later  a  quarterly 
magazine,  each  issue  containing  10-17  reproductions  of 
artistic  photographs. 

Die  Photographische  Kunst,  edited  by  F.  Matthies- 
Masuren.  Halle  1902-C.1912.  Superbly  illustrated 
annual. 

Die  Bildmdssige  Photographie,  edited  by  F.  Matthies- 
Masuren.  Halle  1904-5.  Four  issues:  No.  1  Die  Land- 
schaft,  No.  2  Das  Bildnis,  No.  3  Figur  und  Staff  age, 
No.  4  Interieur  und  Architektur.  Each  issue  contains  51 
pp.  and  16  plates. 

Photographisches  Centralblatt,  edited  by  F.  Matthies- 


Masuren  and  others.  Karlsruhe,  later  Munich  1895- 
c.1910.  Beautifully  illustrated  monthly  magazine. 
Camera  Work,  edited  by  Alfred  Stieglitz.  New  York 
1903-17.  A  quarterly  magazine  illustrating  the  work  of 
leading  American  and  European  art  photographers  in 
photogravure  plates  on  Japan  paper.  50  issues  published. 
La  Revue  de  Photographie.  Paris  1903-8.  Monthly 
magazine  published  by  the  Photo-Club  de  Paris. 

IV.  BAUHAUS  AND  NEW  OBJECTIVITY 

Blossfeldt,  Karl.  Urformen  der  Kunst.  Photographische 
Pflanzenbilder.  Introduction  by  Karl  Nierendorf.  Berlin 
1929.  18  pp.  and  120  plates. 

Feininger,  Andreas.  New  Paths  in  Photography.  London 
1939.  15  pp.  and  47  plates. 

Gernshcim,  Helmut.  New  Photo  Vision.  London  1942. 
32  pp.  and  32  plates. 

Graff,  Werner.  Es  Kommt  der  Neue  Fotograf.  Berlin  1929, 
126  pp.  Illustrated. 

Lerski,  Helmar.  Kiipfe  des  Alltags.  Introduction  by  Curt 
Glaser.  Berlin  193 1.  10  pp.  and  80  illustrations. 
Lendvai-Dirckson,  Erna.  Das  Deutsche  Volksgesicht. 
Berlin  1930.  240  pp.  including  140  photographs. 
Moholy-Nagy,  Laszlo.   Malerei,  Photographie,  Film. 
Munich  1925. 132  pp.  and  approximately  80  illustrations. 
Moholy-Nagy,  Laszlo.  The  New  Vision.  New  York  1931. 
Nash,  Paul.  Fertile  Image.  Edited  by  Margaret  Nash. 
London  195 1.  32  pp.  and  64  plates. 
Renger-Patzsch,  Albert.  Die  Welt  ist  Schiin.  Edited  and 
introduced  by  Carl  Gcorg  Heise.  Munich  1928.  22  pp. 
and  100  plates. 

Roh,  Franz.  Foto-Auge:  76  Fotos  der  Zeit.  Edited  by 
Franz  Roh  and  Jan  Tschichold  and  with  an  introduction 
by  Franz  Roh  on  'Mechanism  and  Expression'.  Stutt- 
gart 1929.  18  pp.  and  76  plates. 

Roh,  Franz.  Aenne  Biermann — 60  Photographien.  Edited 
and  introduced  by  Franz  Roh.  Berlin  1930.  11  pp.  and 
60  plates. 

Sander,  August.  Antlitz  der  Zeit,  with  an  introduction 
by  Alfred  Doblin.  Munich  1929.  17  pp.  and  60  plates. 

V.  SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL  REPORTAGE 

H.  Th.  B.  Wehrlos  Hinter  der  Front.  Leiden  der  Volker 
im  Krieg.  144  agency  photographs.  Frankfurt  1931. 
Bourke-White,  Margaret  and  Caldwell,  Erskine.  You 
Have  Seen  Their  Faces.  New  York  1937.  54  pp.  including 
72  photographs  by  Margaret  Bourke-White. 
Brandt,  Bill.  The  English  at  Home.  London  1936.  Intro- 
duction by  Raymond  Mortimer.  8  pp.  and  63  plates. 
Evans,  Walker.  American  Photographs,  with  an  essay  by 
Lincoln  Kirstein.  New  York  1938.  198  pp.  including 
87  plates  by  Walker  Evans. 

Ostwald,  Hans.  Sittengeschichte  der  Inflation.  Ein  Kultur- 


253 


dokument  aus  den  Jahren  des  Marktsturzes.  Berlin  1 931. 
280  pp.,  including  numerous  agency  photographs. 
Riis,  Jacob  A.  How  the  Other  Half  Lives.  New  York 
1890.  304  pp.  including  43  woodcuts  from  photographs 
by  Riis. 

Salomon,  Dr  Erich.  Beriihmte  Zeitgenossen  in  unbewach- 
ten  Augenblicken.  Stuttgart  1931.  48  pp.  and  112 
photographs. 

Stenbock-Fermor,  Graf  Alexander.  Deutschland  von 
Unten:  Reise  durch  die  proletarische  Provinz.  Stuttgart 
1931.  160  pp.  and  62  agency  photographs. 
Schultz,  Edmund.  Das  Gesicht  der  Demokratie.  Intro- 
duction by  Friedrich  Georg  Junger.  Leipzig  1931.  152 
pp.  including  numerous  agency  photographs. 
Thomson,  J.  and  Smith,  A.  Street  Life  in  London. 
London  1877-8.  36  photographs  by  Thomson  with  text 
by  Thomson  and  Smith.  Published  in  monthly  instal- 
ments. 


VI.  POST-WAR  PERIOD 

The  following  is  a  small  selection  from  the  many  ex- 
cellent modern  picture  books: 

Avedon,  Richard.  Observations.  Lucerne,  London  and 
New  York  1959.  151  pp.  including  numerous  photo- 
graphs. Text  by  Truman  Capote. 
Bischof,  Werner.  Japan.  Zurich,  London  and  New  York 
1954.  Introduction  by  Robert  Guillain.  26  pp.  and  109 
plates. 

Bischof,  Werner.  Unterwegs.  Zurich  1957.  Introduction 
by  Manuel  Gasser.  76  plates. 

Carticr-Brcsson,  Henri.  Images  a  la  Sauvette.  Paris  1952. 
126  plates. 

Cartier-Bresson,  Henri.  China  in  Transition.  London 
1956.  144  plates. 

Feininger,  Andreas.  The  Anatomy  of  Nature.  New  York 
1956.  168  pp.  including  numerous  plates. 


Franke,  Herbert  W.  Kunst  und  Konstruktion.  Munich 
1957.  74  pp.  and  67  plates. 

Iziz  (pseudonym  for  Iziz  Bidermanas).  Grand  Bal  du 
Printemps  with  text  by  Jacques  Prevert.  Lausanne  1951. 
144  pp.  profusely  illustrated. 

Klein,  William.  New  York.  Geneva,  London  and  New 
York  1956.  188  pp.  (no  text). 

Pawek,  Karl.  Totale  Photographie.  Olten,  Switzerland 
i960.  150  pp.  and  80  plates. 

Penn,  Irving.  Moments  Preserved.  Lucerne,  London  and 
New  York  i960.  151  pp.  including  numerous  photo- 
graphs. 

Schulthess,  Emil.  Africa.  Zurich  1958;  London  and 
New  York  i960.  260  plates. 

Steichen,  Edward.  The  Family  of  Man  (book  of  the 
exhibition).  New  York  1955.  207  pp.  of  pictures. 
Steinert,  Dr  Otto.  Subjektive  Fotografie  I.  Bonn  1952. 
40  pp.  and  112  plates. 

Steinert,  Dr  Otto.  Subjektive  Fotografie  2.  Munich  1955. 
39  pp.  and  112  plates. 

Wecgcc  (pseudonym  for  Arthur  Fellig).  Naked  City. 
New  York  1945.  244  pp.  including  numerous  plates. 

ANNUALS 

American  Society  of  Magazine  Photographers'  Picture 
Annual.  New  York  1957.  192  pp. 

Das  Deutsche  Lichtbild,  edited  by  H.  Windisch  and  others. 
Berlin  1927-38;  revived  Stuttgart  1955  to  date. 

Modern  Photography,  edited  by  C.  G.  Holme.  London 
1931-42. 

Photographie.  Paris  1930-9,  1947  (special  numbers  of 
Arts  et  Metiers  Graphiques). 

Photography  Year  Book  (various  editors).  London 
1950  to  date. 

U.S.  Camera  Annual,  edited  by  Tom  Maloney.  New 
York  1935  to  date. 


254 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Berenice,  182,  243 
Abstract   photographs,    163,  164, 

168,  196,  207 
Academie  des  Beaux-Arts,  Paris, 

25,  34 

Academie  des  Sciences,  Paris,  25 
Adam-Salomon,  A.  S.,  19,  64,  66, 
126 

Adams,  Ansel,  182,  231 

Adamson,  Robert,  34,  36,  38,  68, 

138,  231,  238 
Aguado,  Count  O.,  19 
Albert,  Prince  Consort,  73,  74,  77 
Albumen  prints,  248 
Albumen  process,  248 
Ambrotypcs,  57,  248 
Anderson,  James,  19,  44,  231 
Anderson,  Paul  L.,  I42n,  I45n,  247 
Annan,  James  Craig,  38,  136,  145, 

147,  231,  238 
Annan,  Thomas,  64,  108,  231 
Anthony,  Edward,  30,  108,  231,  232 
Arago,  Francois,  24n,  25,  30,  232, 

235 

Archer,   Frederick   Scot;,  43,  73, 

246,  248,  249 
Arts  Council  of  Creat  Britain,  22 
Atget,  Eugene,  19,  154,  158,  160, 

232,  233,  234 
Auerbach,  Erich,  232 

Babbitt,  Piatt  D.,  30,  232 
Backgrounds,  painted,  28,  70,  71, 
72,  194 

Baldus,  Edouard,  19,  41,  44,  232 

Barbizon  School,  119 

Bardi,  Luigi,  50 

Burnett,  H.  Walter,  147,  232 

Barrett,  Elizabeth,  28 

Barton,  G.  A.,  133 

Bassano,  Alexander,  72 

Baudelaire,  Charles,  52,  52n,  64 

Bauhaus,  165,  167,  168,  182,  196,  242 

Bayard,  Hippolyte,  12,  19,  31,  34, 

47,  232 
Bayer,  Herbert,  165,  168 
Beard,  Richard,  26,  232,  249 
Beardsley,  Aubrey,  236 
Beato,  A.,  244 


Beaton,  Cecil,  190,  192,  224,  233 
Bedford,  Francis,  44 
Belloc,  Marie  A.,  84 
Bennett,  Charles,  250 
Bergheim,  J.  S.,  126 
Bertall,  64 

Bicrmann,  Aenne,  178 
Biow,  Hermann,  29,  246 
Bischof,  Werner,  108,  224,  227,  233 
Bisson,  Auguste  and  Louis,  30,  44, 
233 

Blake,  William,  172,  173 
Blanquart-Evrard,  L.  D.,  41,  248 
Blossfeld,  Karl,  177 
Blount,  Sir  Edward,  195 
Bocklin,  Arnold,  132 
Boissonnas,  Fred,  133,  233 
Boulanger,  General,  112,  114 
Bourgeois,  A.,  142 
Bourkc-White,  Margaret,  212,  216, 
221 

Bourne,  Samuel,  44 
Bouton,  Charles-Marie,  235 
Bovier,  L.,  133 
Brady,  Mathew  B.,  29,  243 
Brandt,  Bill,  101,  215,  216,  233,  243 
Brassai,  213,  216,  233 
Braun,  Adolphe,  44,  92,  108 
Briand,  Aristide,  210,  245 
Bromoil,  248 
Bruguicre,  Francis,  194 
Browning,  see  Barrett,  Elizabeth 
Brunei,  Isambard  Kingdom,  60,  66 
Bucquet,  Maurice,   136,  147,  154, 

158,  233,  234 
Biihrer,  Emil,  22 
Burgess,  John,  250 

Caledon,  Countess  of,  19 

Calotype  (or  Talbotype),  30,  32,  33, 

34,  36,  38,  40,  73,  138,  231,  235, 

238,  240,  245,  246,  248,  249,  251 
Calotype  Club,  237 
Camera,  miniature,   18,   102,  104, 

209,  212,  213 
Camera  obscura,  II,  246,  250 
'Camera  Work',  142,  145,  149,  246 
Cameron,  Henry  Herschel  Hay,  136, 

147,  234 


Cameron,  Julia  Margaret,  19,  2on, 
64,  66,  68,  82,  84,  120,  133,  234 

Canaletto,  25 

Capa,  Robert,  212,  227 

Carbon  print,  249 

Carjat,  Eticnnc,  19,  64,  234 

Carriere,  Eugene,  10 1,  120 

Carroll,  Lewis,  19,  76,  92,  94,  234 

Carte-de-visite,  69,  79,  232,  233, 
236,  240,  245,  248 

Cartier-Bresson,  Henri,  22,  82,  108, 
204,  221,  224,  233,  234 

Casazza,  Gatti,  139 

Casson,  Winifred,  192,  194,  234 

Cattermolc,  George,  76 

Cecil,  Hugh,  241 

'A  Century  of  Photography'  exhibi- 
tion, 20,  22,  237 

Cercle  d'Art  Photographique,  Brus- 
sels, 142 

Chalon,  Alfred,  26,  28 

Cherrill,  N.  K.,  244 

Chevreul,  Michel-Eugene,  112 

Chicago  Art  Institute,  20 

Churchill,  Sir  Winston,  68 

Clark,  Sir  Kenneth,  22 

Claudet,  Antoine,  28,  234,  235,  249 

Clifford,  Charles,  44,  235 

Cloud  negatives,  47,  50 

Coburn,  Alvin  Langdon,  41,  142, 
147,  148,  161,  163,  168,  235 

Collen,  Henry,  33,  34 

Collodion  process,  43,  73,  249 

Constant,  Benjamin,  96 

Controlled  printing  processes,  249 

Corot,  Camille,  131 

Courbet,  Gustavc,  15,  50,  96,  101, 
119 

Couture,  Thomas,  77 
Cox,  Bertram,  i77n 
Cromer  Collection,  20 
Cundall,  Joseph,  239 
Cunningham,  Imogen,  182 

Dadaism,  145,  163,  164,  168,  243, 
245 

Daguerre,  Louis  Jacques  Mande,  12, 

23,  32,  232,  234,  235,  242,  249 
Daguerreotype,  23,  24,  25,  26,  28, 


255 


29>  30,  3L  32,  34=  63,  96,  231, 

232,  234,  235,  238,  242,  246,  248, 

249,  250 
Dallas,  E.  W.,  12011, 
Dallmeyer,  T.  R.,  120,  126 
Dancer,  John  Benjamin,  102 
Darwin,  Charles,  68,  244 
Daumier,  Honore,  30,  36,  133 
Dauthendey,  Carl,  30 
Davison,   George,   120,   122,  123, 

124,  126,  135,  136,  235 
Day,  F.  Holland,  133,  235 
Degas,  Edgar,  17,  108,  126,  131 
Delacroix,  Eugene,  64,  96 
Delamotte,  Philip  Henry,  19,  43, 

44,  108,  235 
Dclarochc,  Paul,  13,  24,  24n,  130, 

237,  240,  242 
Demachy,  Robert,  126,  136,  235, 

250 

Deren  Coke,  Van,  207 
'Deutsche  National  Galerie',  29 
Diencs,  Andre  de,  101 
Diorama,  235 

Disdcri,  A.  E.,  69,  92,  235,  236 
Dore,  Gustave,  64,  86,  221 
Draper,  Edward,  92,  236 
Du  Camp,  Maxime,  19,  41 
Diihrkoop,  Rudolf,  139 
Durham,  Joseph,  76n 
Duricu,  E.,  89 

Diisseldorf  Academy  of  Art,  81 
Dutillcux,  Constant,  89,  96 

Eastlake,  Sir  Charles,  74 

Eastman,  George,  116 

Edgerton,  Harold  E.,  171,  236 

Edmiston,  194,  236 

Edwards,  J.  M.,  232 

Edwards,  J.  P.,  182 

Eisenstaedt,  Alfred,  212 

Eisenstein,  Sergei,  177 

Elliott  and  Fry,  114 

Emerson,  Peter  Henry,  117,  118, 

119,  120,  122,  124,  126,  135,  235, 

236 

England,  William,  44,  104,  236 
Erfurth,  Hugo,  139,  236 
'Ermanox'  camera,  104,  209,  209n, 

241,  245 
Ernst,  Max,  164,  168 
Eugene,  Frank,  142 
Evans,  Frederick  H.,  136,  147,  236 
Evans,  Walker,  212,  216,  236,  237, 

240 

Exhibitions  of  photography,  15,  20, 
22,  50,  52,  74,  77,  79,  82,  123, 
126,  135,  136,  138,  139,  142,  145, 
147,  163,  167,  182,  185,  237 

'Family  of  Man'  exhibition,  22,  245 
Farm  Security  Administration,  216, 

236,  240,  244 
Feininger,  Lyonel,  165 


Fenton,  Roger,  19,  41,  44,  79,  82, 
92,  108,  237,  243,  244 

Ferrier,  C.  M.,  44 

Film  and  Photo  Exhibition,  Stutt- 
gart, 167,  182 

Fizeau,  Hippolyte,  249 

Flacheron,  Count  F.,  19,  41 

Fontaine,  64 

Forbes-White,  J.,  43 

Ford,  John,  216 

'Fotoform',  see  'Subjective  Photo- 
graphy' 
Franck,  64 

Frederick  William  IV  of  Prussia,  29 

Frith,  Francis,  43n,  44,  237 

Frith,  William  Powell,  239 

Fry,  Peter  W.,  248 

Fry,  Roger,  22,  68 

F.64  Group,  182,  231,  240,  247 

Gale,  Col.  Joseph,  123,  136 
'Galerie  Contemporaine',  64 
'Gallery  of  Illustrious  Americans',  29 
Gardner,  Alexander,  243 
Gaudin,  Marc-Antoinc,  30 
Gautier,  Thcophile,  19 
Gelatine  dry  plates,  102,  115,  249 
Gelatine  emulsion,  250 
Genthe,  Arnold,  112,  237 
George  Eastman  House,  20,  96 
Gerber,  Friedrich,  12 
Germeshauscn,  Kenneth  J.,  171 
Gernsheim  Collection,  20,  237,  241 
Gemshcim,  Helmut,  182,  185,  237 
Girault  de  Prangey,  J.  P.,  19,  25, 

31,  237,  238 
Goddard,  J.  F.,  232,  249 
Graff,  Philipp,  30 
Graff,  Werner,  177 
Great  Exhibition  1851,  29,  73,  232 
Griffith,  D.  W.,  177 
Gropius,  Walter,  165,  i96n 
Gros,  Baron,  31 
Grosso,  Giacomo,  139 
Grosz,  George,  163 
Gruber,  L,  Fritz,  22 
Grundy,  William  M.,  44,  92,  238 
Guibert,  Maurice,  180 
Gum  bichromate  process,  250 
Gurncy,  Jeremiah,  30 

Hals,  Frans,  71 

Hamburg  Kunsthalle,  136,  138,  139 
Hammacher,  Arno,  41,  238 
Hammarskiold,  Caroline,  238 
Hammarskiold,  Hans,  200,  238 
Hanfstaengl,  Erwin,  66 
Hardy,  Bert,  224,  238 
Hartlaub,  Gustav,  172 
Havinden,  John,  101 
Hawarden,  Clementina,  Viscountess, 

19,  92,  238 
Heartfield,  John,  163,  16S 
Heise,  Carl  Georg,  172,  182 


Heliography,  11,  12,  235,  242,  250 
Henneberg,  Hugo,  136,  240,  247 
Henneman,  Nicholaas,  43 
Henner,  96 

Herschel,  Sir  John  Frederick  Wil- 
liam, 12,  2on,  68 

Hill,  David  Octavius,  19,  34,  36,  38, 
41,  68,  138,  231,  238 

Hiller,  Lejaren  a,  133 

Hine,  Lewis  W.,  ill,  238,  246 

Hinton,  A.  Horsley,  120,  136,  239 

Hobdell,  Roy,  194 

Hofmeister,  Thendor  and  Oskar, 
1393  239 

Hollycr,  Frederick,  136,  147 

Hoppe,  Emil  Otto,  180,  239 

Howlett,  Robert,  60,  66,  239 

Hughes,  Alice,  147,  239 

Hughes,  Arthur,  84 

Hughes,  C.  Jabcz,  30 

Hutton  (Hubschmann),  Kurt,  212, 
221,  239 

Impressionists,  20,  64 

Ingres,  Dominique,  28,96,  101,242 

International    Society   of  Pictorial 

Photographers,  145,  231 
Isenring,  J.  B.  30 
Israels,  Josef,  81 

Jackson,  William,  50 
Johnston,  J.  Dudley,  i8sn 
Juhl,  Ernst  W.,  136,  139 

Kandinsky,  Wassily,  165 
Kar,  Ida,  16,  114,  247 
Karsh,  Yousuf,  68 
Kiisebier,  Gertrude,  142 
Keetman,  Peter,  198,  200,  239 
Kcighley,  Alexander,  239 
Keith,  Thomas,  19,  41,  239,  240 
Kennctt,  Richard,  250 
Kilburn,  W.  E„  30 
Klary,  64 
Klee,  Paul,  165 
Kodak  camera,  115,  116,  224 
Kratochwila,  Franz,  249 
Ktihn,  Heinrich,  126,  136,  240,  247 

Lacroix,  240 

Lamartinc,  A.  de,  64,  64n 
Lange,  Dorothea,  221,  240 
Langenheim,  Frederick  and  William, 
30 

Laughlin,  Clarence  J.,  240 

Lawrence,  M.  M.,  30 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  26,  28,  57 

Lazi,  Adolf,  239 

Le  Begue,  Rene,  136 

Le  Gray,  Gustave,  19,  30,  40,  44, 

47,  89,  233,  240,  243,  251 
Leibl,  Wilhelm,  132 
'Lcica'  camera,  209,  212,  2i3n 
Lcighton,  John,  74,  74n,  240 
Lemaitre,  A.  F.,  242,  250 


256 


Lenbach,  Franz,  132 
Lendvai-Dirksen,  Erna,  178 
Lerebours,  N.  P.,  25,  30,  96 
Lcrski,  Helmar,  178,  180,  240 
Le  Secq,  Henri,  41,  44 
Lichtwark,  Alfred,  136,  138,  139 
Linked  Ring  Brotherhood,  135,  136, 

142,  147,  231,  235,  236,  239,  240, 

245,  246,  247 
Lissitzky,  El,  168 

Lithography,  lithographs,  11,  12, 
16,  20,  29,  64,  145,  238,  241,  242, 
243 

Liverpool  Photographic  Society,  237 
Lochcrcr,  Alois,  43,  102,  240,  241 
Lomazzo,  Paolo,  71 
London  Camera  Club,  163 
London  Salon,  185,  235,  244 
London  Stereoscopic  Company,  104 
Lorant,  Stefan,  210 
Louvre,  22,  234 
Luboshez,  Nahum,  112,  240 

Maddox,  Richard  Leach,  250 
Man,  Felix  H.,  114,  210,  212,  241 
Manchester  Art  Treasures  Exhibi- 
tion, 77,  235 
Manet,  Edouard,  101,  108 
Mann,  Thomas,  176 
Manzu,  Giacomo,  15 
Martens,  Friedrich  von,  30 
Martin,  Paul,  19,  154,  241 
Marville,  Charles,  41,  44 
Maskell,  Alfred,  135,  235 
Matter,  Herbert,  168 
Matthics-Masuren,  Fritz,  136 
Maull  and  Polyblank,  64,  241 
Mayall,  John  Jabez  Edwin,  30,  73, 
73n 

Mayhew,  Henry,  154,  232 
Meade  Brothers,  30 
Melandri,  66,  241 

Metropolitan  Museum,  New  York, 
20,  22 

Millais,  Sir  John  Everett,  21,  79 
Miller,  Lee,  243 
Miller,  Wayne,  245 
Millet,  J.  F.,  64,  119 
Mills,  F.  W.,  154 
Miniatures,  25,  28,  29,  57,  245 
Misonnc,  Leonard,  142,  241 
Mitford,  Mary  Russell,  28n 
Mocschlin,  Peter,  200,  241,  242 
Moholy-Nagy,  Laszlo,  14,  117,  164, 

165,  167,  i67n,  168,  172,  177, 

19611,  198,  242 
Molard,  Humbert  de,  Baron,  41 
Monet,  Claude,  64,  108 
Morris,  Jane  (Mrs  William  Morris), 

86 

Mortimer,  Raymond,  216 
Moulin,  98 
Mudd,  James,  242 
Mulnier,  64 


Murger,  Henri,  98,  101 

Murray,  Somerset,  194 

Museum  of  the  City  of  New  York,  20 

Museum  of  Modern  Art,  New  York, 

20,  234,  236,  245,  246 
Muybridge,  Eadweard,  44 
McBean,  Angus,  194,  195,  241 
MacPherson,  Robert,  19,  44,  241 

Nadar    (pseudonym    for  Gaspard 
Felix  Tournachon),  19,  64,  112, 

234,  242 
Nadar,  Paul,  1 1 2 
Nakamura,  Tatcyuki,  101 
Napoleon  III,  64,  69,  236 
Nash,  Paul,  224 

National  Photographic  Record 

Association,  112,  246 
National  Portrait  Gallery,  22 
Natterer,  Johann  and  Josef,  30 
Ncgrc,  Charles,  19,  41,  44,  89,  92, 

242 

New  Objectivity  (Neuc  Sachlich- 

keit),  41,  Chapter  XVIII,  244 
New  York  Camera  Club,  142 
Newhall,  Beaumont,  237 
Newhall,  Nancy,  231,  246 
Newton,  Sir  William  J.,  74,  75,  119 
Niepcc,  Joseph  Nicephorc,  11,  12, 

235,  242,  250 

Niepce  de  Saint- Victor,  Abel,  248 
Northrop,  W.  B.,  114 
Noskowiak,  Sonia,  182 
Nothmann,  E.,  126,  242 
Notman,  William,  72,  242,  243 

Oddner,  George,  227,  229,  243 

Oil-pigment,  250 

Oscillation  photographs,  198,  200 

O'Sullivan,  T.  H,  108,  243 

Outerbridge,  Paul,  182 

Owen,  Hugh,  43 

Pabst,  G.  W.,  127 

Palace  of  the  Legion  of  Honor, 

San  Francisco,  20 
'Pencil  of  Nature,  The',  33,  246 
Perschcid,  Nicola,  139 
Petit,  Pierre,  64 

Photo-Club  de  Paris,  136,  158,  234, 

235,  240 
Photogenic  Drawing,  248,  250 
Photograms,  163,  164,  168 
Photographic  Society  of  London, 

see  Royal  Photographic  Society 
Photographic  Society  of  Scotland, 

78 

Photographic  vision,  16,  17 
Photo-interview,  112,  114 
Photo-montage,  76,  77,  78,  79,  80, 
81,  195 

Photography,  applications  of,  12 
Photography,   exhibitions    of,  15, 
20,  22,  50,  52,  74,  11,  19,  82,  123, 


126,  135,  136,  138,  139,  142,  145, 
147,  163,  167,  182,  185,  237 
Photography,  invention  of,  11,  12, 

23,  24,  25,  32,  34 
Photography,  museums  of,  20,  29 
Photography  and  painting,  13,  14, 

15,  16,  17,  28,  50,  52,  70,  76,  77, 
81,  108,  119,  120,  131,  132,  133, 
142,  152,  168,  194,  207,  232,  239 
Photography,  usefulness  to  painters, 

24,  28,  74=  96,  101,  224,  232,  239, 
243 

Photokina,  Cologne,  22 
Photo-Secession,  142,  145,  147,  149, 

244,  245,  246,  247 
Physionotrace,  25 
Pichier,  Paul,  132 
Piot,  Eugene,  41 
Piper,  C.  Welborne,  248 
Pissarro,  Camillc,  131 
Platinotype,  251 
Plumicr,  Victor,  30 
Poitevin,  Alphonsc,  249,  250 
Polak,  Richard,  133,  243 
Ponti,  Carlo,  50,  243 
Pound,  Ezra,  163 

Pre-Raphaelite  School,  74,  79,  84, 
86 

Price,  William  Lake,  19,  76,  77,  79, 
92,  243 

Primoli,  Count,  19 

Princess  Royal,  sec  Victoria 

Prinsep,  May  (later  Lady  Tenny- 
son), 84 

Prinsep,  Val,  84 

Pumphrey,  William,  43 

Puttemans,  C,  142 

Puyo,  C,  133,  136 

Raphael,  76,  77 

Ray,  Man,  164,  165,  168,  198,  233, 

234,  243 
'Rayographs',  164,  234 
Rawlins,  G.  E.  H,  250 
Reade,  Rev.  Joseph  Bancroft  12 
Realism,  50,  52 
Le  Realisme,  50 

Rejlander,  Oscar  Gustavc,  19,  76, 

77,  78,  79,  80,  92,  9«>  I33>  243, 
244 

Rcnger-Patzsch,  Albert,   41,  160, 

172,  176,  177,  185,  244 
Renoir,  Augustc,  108,  126,  131 
Renoir,  Jean,  234 

Retouching  photographs,   57,  58, 

60,  89 
Rey,  Guido,  133,  139 
Richcbourg,  30 
Riis,  Jacob  A.,  ill,  221,  244 
Rivera,  Diego,  247 
Robertson,  James,  44,  244 
Robinson,  Henry  Peach,   78,  79, 

80,  81,  118,  135,  164,  244 
Rochettc,  Raoul,  34 


257 


Roh,  Franz,  167,  178 
Roosevelt,  Theodore,  III,  244 
Roote,  Marcus  A.,  30 
Rose-Pulham,  Peter,  194 
Rossetti,  Dante  Gabriel,  86 
Rothstein,  Arthur,  221,  244 
Rouille-Ladeveze,  A.,  126,  250 
Roux,  Christine,  98,  101 
Royal  Engineers  Military  School, 
244 

Royal  Photographic  Society,  15, 
74,  98,  117,  118,  119,  123,  135, 
147,  176,  177,  185,  237,  244 

Royal  Scottish  Academy,  34 

Royal  Society  of  Arts,  74 

Rubincam,  Harry  C,  147,  149,  244 

Ruskin,  John,  21,  25,  25n 

Russell,  Lorenzo  Henry,  56 

Salomon,  Erich,  209,  210,  245 
Salon  of  1859,  52 
Salon  of  Linked  Ring,  136 
Sander,  August,  178 
Sardou,  Victorien,  232 
Sargent,  John,  22,  126 
Savage,  W.,  72 

Sawyer,  Lyddell,  120,  136,  245 
Schad,  Christian,  163,  164,  245 
'Schadographs',  163,  164,  245 
Schiaparelli,  Cesare,  139 
Schlcmmcr,  Oskar,  165 
Schulthess,  Emil,  227 
Schwarz,  Heinrich,  176 
Schwitters,  Kurt,  164 
Sedgfield,  Russell,  44 
Sella,  Vittorio,  50 
Senefelder,  Aloys,  11,12 
Seymour,  David,  227 
Shaw,  George  Bernard,  68,  76,  76n, 

101,  116,  130,  147,  236 
Sheelcr,  Charles,  182 
Sickert,  Walter,  17 
Silhouettes,  25 

Silvy,  Camille,  19,  47,  70,  245 

Smedley  and  Co.,  71 

Smith,  Eugene,  224 

Smith,  John  Shaw,  19,  41,  245 


Societc  Francaise  de  Photographie, 

89>  96,  232,  233,  240,  242 
Solarization,  165 
Sougez,  Emmanuel,  101 
Spitzer,  F.,  136 
Stanfield,  Clarkson,  34 
Steichen,  Edward,  22,   101,  126, 

132,  142,  145,  182,  245 
Steinbeck,  John,  216,  240 
Steiner,  Andre,  101 
Steinert,  Otto,  196,  198,  200,  245 
Stelzner,  C.  F.,  29,  245,  246 
Stenbock-Fermor,  Count,  212 
Stengcr  Collection,  20 
Stieglitz,  Alfred,  101,  136,  142,  145, 

147,  149,  168,  246 
Stone,  Sir  Benjamin,  112,  246 
Strand,  Paul,  149,  152,  154,  160, 

172,  1 80,  246 
Strauss,  J.  C,  133 
'Subjective  Photography',  196,  198, 

239,  245 

Surrealism,  164,  168,  Chapter  XIX, 
243 

Sutcliffc,  Frank  M.  120,  136,  246 
Swan,  Sir  Joseph  Wilson,  114,  249 
Swift,  Henry  182 

Talbot,  William  Henry  Fox,  11, 
12,  32,  33,  73,  163,  246,  248,  249, 
250 

Talbotype  (sec  Calotypc) 
Telfcr,  William,  30,  246 
Tennyson,  Alfred  Lord,  68,  79, 

80,  86,  88,  234 
Thierry,  I.,  30 

Thomson,  John,  108,  112,  154,  160, 
246,  247 

Toulouse-Lautrec,  Henri  de,  17,  180 
Tournachon,   Gaspard   Felix,  see 

Nadar 
Tschichold,  Jan,  168 
Turner,  Benjamin  Bracknell,  43 
'Typophoto',  167,  168 
Tzara,  Tristan,  163,  164,  243 

Utrillo,  Maurice,  17,  232 


Vaillat,  30 

Valentine,  James,  44 

Vandcrkindere,  M.,  142 

Van  Dyck,  Willard,  182 

Vaughan,  Cardinal,  86 

Vcrnct,  Horace,  25 

Victoria,  Queen,  28,  70,  74,  77, 

102,  108,  236,  244 
Victoria,  Princess  Royal,  later  the 

Empress  Frederick  of  Germany, 

70.  139 

Viennese  Camera  Club,  136,  247 
Villeneuve,  Vallou  de,  89 
Vollj  Karl,  i30n 
'Vortographs',  163,  235 

Wall,  E.  J.,  248 

Watts,  George  Frederick,  68,  82, 

84,  86,  234 
Watzek,  Hans,  136,  240,  247 
Wax  portraits,  25 
Waxed  paper  process,  40,  41,  251 
Weber,  Max,  161,  247 
Weber,  Wolfgang,  210,  212 
Wedgwood,  Josiah,  11 
Wedgwood,  Thomas,  1 1 
Weegee,  247 
Weimer,  Wilhclm,  139 
Wellington,  J.  B.  B.,  120,  136 
Weston,  Brett,  182,  247 
Weston,  Edward,  101,  160,  182,  231, 

247 

Whistler,  James,  21,  84 
White,  Clarence  H.,  101,  142,  147, 
247 

White,  Henry,  19,  44,  247 
Wilenski,  R.  H.,  14,  15,  16,  188 
Wilkinson,  B.  Gay,  120, 124, 136,  247 
Williams,  T.  R.,  30 
Willis,  William,  251 
Wilson,  George  Washington,  44 
Winquist,  Rolf,  200,  238,  247 
Wolcott,  Alexander,  26,  249 
Wolff,  Paul,  213 

World  Exhibition  of  Photography, 

Lucerne,  22 
Wynficld,  David  Wilkie,  68 


258